​New Zealand Sports Academy began in 1999, and is focused on using sport as the vehicle to educate and provide support, encouragement and guidance to all rangatahi (youth) in their pursuit of personal development through discipline and hardwork.
 
We now run courses in Rotorua, Christchurch and Wellington, offering a wide range of choices for any athlete hoping to turn their love of the game into a career. In addition to position-specific training and physical testing, we use innovative coaching techniques to focus on skills, not drills - teaching you the bio-mechanic foundations, so you can understand, implement and easily detect errors in each individual skill.

The NZ Sports Academy coaching team is here to give you the best coaching experience

Our extensive network of highly-regarded, professional coaches and players means you’ll benefit from the best the world of rugby, rugby league, netball and waka ama can offer.
Jim Love - ​​New Zealand Sports Academy Director/Founder

​Jim is a former Māori All Black Assistant Coach, Tongan Rugby World Cup Coach and former Māori All Black player. His vision to create a unique sports and career training programme for aspiring sports professionals resulted in the establishment of the New Zealand Sports Academy in 1999.
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Jim is the former coach of Arix Viadana in Italy, winners of the Italian Cup (May 2007).
Darrel Shelford - New Zealand Sports Academy Director

Darrel started his playing career with Bay of Plenty representative rugby, spending seven years there before making the New Zealand Māori All Blacks team and being named as an All Black triallist.

He then switched to professional Rugby League and, for the next 10 years, played for a number of teams including Bradford Northern, Huddersfield Giants and the Scotland Rugby League team. He was also assistant coach for the Bradford Bulls for six years, helping establish the Bradford Bulls Rugby League Academy. Before returning to New Zealand, Darrel was also an assistant coach at Saracens Rugby Club in the United Kingdom.

Darrel also assisted Jim with the Arix Viadana team in Italy.
Darrel is currently assisting with the Bay of Plenty U19 squad.
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Liam Hae Hae - Tutor/Strength & Conditioning Coach

​“It takes a single spark to ignite a raging blaze”.

As a young person who enjoyed rugby but never thought about a career within the game, Liam is a true example of never giving up on your dreams.
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Liam started playing rugby as a five-year-old and has played competitively for clubs, schools and Bay of Plenty. As an ex-student of the New Zealand Sports Academy, Liam now works in Wellington as the head tutor/strength and conditioning coach of the Wellington Academy where he strives to uphold the mana and traditions of the organisation. Having been involved with the New Zealand Sports Academy for the past four years, Liam loves being part of inspiring and developing young athletes from across the globe.
Hinemaui Parata​

GUEST COACHES
​Noeline Taurua - New Zealand Sports Academy Director of Netball

​Noeline is a former New Zealand International netball representative, who played in the Silver Ferns team which won a silver medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

A High Performance coach for 12 years, Noeline’s experience covers international, national, academy and secondary schools levels. Her track record of success in New Zealand is unrivalled.

In 2011, she was assistant coach to the New Zealand Silver Ferns in series wins against England and Australia.

In 2012, she coached Kia Magic to an ANZ Championship title win, the only New Zealand team to achieve this in the history of the championship. She was also an assistant coach for New Zealand Silver Ferns when they beat Australia for the Constellation Cup title. In the same year she was also named Bay of Plenty Coach of the Year. 

Noeline is currently coaching the Melbourne Storm.
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​Wayne ‘Buck’ Shelford
  • Ex-All Black Captain
  • Māori All Black
  • Auckland and North Harbour Representative
  • Buck is the only undefeated All Black Captain who brings specialist knowledge in forward play and great mentoring skills
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​Matt Te Pou
  • Former coach of the New Zealand Māori rugby union team
  • Former Super 12 Assistant Coach to Chiefs
  • When coaching the New Zealand Māori team Matt and Jim achieved a world record - 26 wins in a row
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​Kiwi Searancke
  • Former Waikato NPC player
  • Coach/Assistant Coach for Waikato
  • Coach Glasgow Warriors, Poverty Bay
  • Assistant Coach New Zealand Women's Black Ferns
  • Irish Rugby Football Union National Academy Coach ​
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​Tawera Nikau
  • Waikato and Auckland rugby league representative
  • Former player for York Wasps, Sheffield Eagles, Castleford Tigers, Cronulla Sharks, Melbourne Storm and Warrington Wolves
  • Former player for the New Zealand Kiwis and New Zealand Māori representative teams
  • Current New Zealand Kiwis selector
  • In 2008 Nikau was inducted as one of the NZRL Legends of League and Carrington Tigers Hall of Fame
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​Hika Reid
  • Former All Black (1980-86), playing 40 games and nine test matches
  • Played for NZ Māori, Bay of Plenty and Wellington provinces
  • Coached professionally in New Zealand, England and Ireland and has returned to New Zealand to continue his contribution to Māori rugby

HEAD OFFICE
Jeanna Love - Director/Business & International Manager (Bachelor of Management Studies)

Jeanna started the New Zealand Sports Academy with her husband, Jim, in 1999 and controls the finance and administration for the organisation.

She is also a part-time business advisor for Poutama Trust, which assists Māori in business, a board member of Manaaki Ora Trust, which governs Te Utuhina Manaakitanga Trust and Tipu Ora Trust, mother to Ania, 21, and Matea, 13, and has completed a Postgraduate diploma in finance.
Vicky Ward - Financial Controller/Administration Manager

Vicky joined the team in 2014 after graduating from the University of Waikato with a Bachelor of Business Administration, majoring in Accounting.  She came to New Zealand in 2008, from the UK, and is currently studying towards her Chartered Accountants qualification.
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TESTIMONIAL

“Last year I set up the school’s first rugby team. The kids at the school hadn’t played rugby before so I thought it was important to get the fundamentals right.  All my teaching life I have had a passion to find the best information so when I face the kids, they get the best deal.

Having heard good things about the Jim Love’s coaching academy, I enrolled. I found the week innovative and vital. It was an approach I had not seen before, but made so much sense that it has been very easy to translate it into my own coaching.

Jim breaks down every skill into its component parts. He puts it all into the context of the game, so you see exactly why you are doing what you are doing. In school, the kids want to know the reasons for everything, especially since rugby is not naturally their first sport. They have no idea about the nature of the game so every explanation needs to be well thought through. There is no room for half-truths or misinterpretation. Hence the fundamental, bottom-up approach is so successful.

I have been used to learning by watching and then replicating. Jim’s approach is more powerful. You are “doing” the skills and learning the reasons for doing them. Therefore you are learning the skills in more depth.

On the course, once we had learned the skills, they were put into game scenarios. It showed how they could be useful in a game context and how they could be practised.

When I came back to school, I basically ripped up the original training plan and started again. I told the kids my approach and how the changes would make them much better players and they bought into it. We have made enormous strides and I am looking forward to being extremely competitive next season.
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Looking back on the week, I felt Jim’s approach, and feel for the people in the game, was unique. He kept saying it was a simple game that was too often complicated. He said that rugby was about balance and relaxation. When we need to use our energy, then we should use it.”

MATT COTTON - MEN'S RUGBY HEAD COACH

Our Courses

At New Zealand Sports Academy we offer full-time (40 weeks), full immersion courses for New Zealand students in rugby union, rugby league, netball and waka ama, and for international players (from one to 12 weeks) in rugby union and rugby league.
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​We also offer customisable team courses, as well as shorter coaching courses. 

RUGBY
​UNION

Founded in 1999, the NZSA harnesses the natural talent of young rugby players in a cultural environment that encourages every player to realise their potential both on and off the rugby field.
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RUGBY
​LEAGUE

Rugby League was introduced into the NZSA programme in 2005 by Tawera Nikau. The focus is to harness the natural talent of rugby league players in a cultural environment that encourages every player to realise their potential both on and off the rugby field.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

New Zealand Sports Academy harnesses the natural talent of young rugby players in a cultural environment that encourages every player to realise their potential, both on and off the rugby field​.

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