Episode 10: Jesse Rawlings

Jesse Rawlings is head of the Pre-Academy with the Wellington Phoenix Football Club (New Zealand’s sole professional Football Club). He brings a fresh approach to how Youth Academies run, where he keeps the players journey as the focus, rather than that of the coaches. He is an absolute sport nut, where he lives and breathes it, noting that he used to pick ‘form team of the week’ for cricket, rugby and football at the age of 6! Legend.

He has also recently finished his Master’s research analysing Junior Sport Development Programmes in New Zealand. He engaged with Rugby, Football, Netball and Hockey codes to gain a better understanding of how youth sport could look and feel.  

He’s a top man with an awesome outlook on coaching and sport. We talked about: 

• Phoenix Academy – what’s the purpose, why does it exist. 
• The philosophy of the Academy. How it is different to some overseas programmes.
• How schools / clubs / coaches could adopt similar principles. 
• Research into Junior Sport Development Programmes (Link to thesis). Why sports are opting for smaller-sided playing frameworks, that have a focus on player engagement and skill-development. 
• More tangents of course.