Sport Specialisation: Striking the Right Balance

Sport Specialisation: Striking the Right Balance

Join us for an engaging seminar with Dr Chris Whatman as he explores the challenges of sport specialisation in youth athletes. This session is designed for athletes, parents, and coaches looking to better understand how to support long-term development in sport.

Event Highlights:

• The difference between sport specialisation and sport diversification
• Potential risks of early specialisation, including burnout and injury
• The different paths to sporting success - why there’s no one-size-fits-all approach
• Benefits of playing multiple sports for skill development and injury prevention
• What it means to be a “SportSmart” mover
• How growth and maturation affect performance and injury risk
• Strategies to keep young athletes active, confident, and engaged for life

Feedback from our last event with Dr Chris Whatman:
"I really enjoyed his presentation - it covered a lot of key thought processes around young student-athlete's, and was very insightful! Chris is able to relate to all who attended - student-athlete's, coaches and parents alike - and had a great approach to his teachings!"

About Dr Chris Whatman

Chris originally qualified as a physiotherapist and worked in private practice and with various sports teams for over 10 years before becoming an academic. He gained his Masters in Sports Physiotherapy from the University of South Australia and his PhD from Auckland University of Technology.
Chris is a member of the AUT Millennium Sports Performance Research Institute NZ where he leads the Sports Injury Prevention research group. He teaches in the areas of Applied Anatomy and Applied Sports Biomechanics. The current focus of his research is the prevention of sports injuries in youth with a focus on neuromuscular training, sport specialisation, growth and maturation and knowledge/attitudes to injury. He has current research collaborations with New Zealand (NZ) Rugby, Netball NZ and Basketball NZ.
Chris is the Editor of the New Zealand Journal of Sports Medicine and on the National Council of Sports Medicine New Zealand.

BOOKINGS ARE ESSENTIAL TO ATTEND THIS EVENT

AUT Millennium is a charitable trust and all funds raised will go towards the ongoing care, maintenance, and operation of AUT Millennium and to support future events

There is a free ticket type but if you would like to make a koha/donation to support similar future events to be run, please register using the ticket types of $10, $15, $20, or $25. The koha/donation ticket type will count as your ticket to the event.

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