WORK WITH ME
Athletes | Coaches | Organisations
Dr Pip Thomas
Researcher | Practitioner | Consultant
PhD · MSpEx · BCom | 2026 Fulbright NZ Scholar
The Funnel and the Person
He was fourteen when I first met him — quiet, physically outstanding, already tracked by two NRL clubs. His mother pulled me aside after one of the sessions. "He is having trouble sleeping. He's terrified of getting it wrong." He hadn't signed anything yet, and the weight of a dream was already rewriting his nervous system.
That moment is what this work is about. Not an abstract pathway diagram — a lived pressure system that begins before an athlete is legally old enough to sign a contract. For most young people who enter it, the funnel ends before the narrow point is reached. The question it poses is not whether they make it through. It is: who are they becoming along the way — and what role do the environments they pass through play in that becoming?
And it is not only the athlete carrying the weight. The coaches and support staff inside these environments are often doing the same — navigating performance pressure, roster decisions, and the complexity of managing young people at a critical stage of their development, frequently without adequate training, support, or time. The expectation that a coach can develop the whole athlete — technically, physically, mentally, emotionally, relationally — while also winning, is one the system rarely questions. The result is overwhelm, burnout, and environments where good intentions are not enough because the structures to act on them simply do not exist.
The human side of sport demands more than good people. It demands intentional design.
FOR EMERGING ATHLETES
Individual Development Plan (IDP)
A structured, four-pillar assessment and plan built around you — not a template, not generic advice. We define your profile, evaluate where you are across technical, physical, character, and life balance dimensions, and build a focused action plan for your next campaign, transition, or season.
Two in-depth sessions, assessment and written report
Optional twelve-month ongoing support and advocacy package
DIY version also available
Individual Care and Support
Formal monthly check-ins and ongoing guidance across the things that actually affect performance — managing pressure, selection events, injuries, coach relationships, moving away from home, contracts, and the quiet stuff that doesn't have a name yet.
Quarterly packages for emerging athletes and senior athletes
First conversation is always free
FOR COACHES AND TEAMS
Interactive Sessions and Presentations
Fear and Fitness — Being an Athlete: for emerging athletes 16–23 years.
The Realities and the Rollercoaster Ride of Collegiate and Pro-Sport Transitions: for athletes and parents
Shaping Adolescent Athletes Beyond Physical Talent: for coaches
Followed by meaningful ongoing support if needed — not a one-off workshop and nothing after.
FOR ORGANISATIONS
Pathway environments are not passive backdrops to athlete development. They are active producers of the physical, psychological, and relational conditions in which young people develop — or don't — at the most critical stage of their athletic and personal maturity.
Too many organisations invest heavily in athletic development and leave personal development to chance. The result is athletes who survive the funnel without growing through it — and exits that arrive before anyone is ready for them, athletes included.
If your organisation is building or reviewing how you support emerging athletes through the funnel — from recruitment through to exit and beyond — let's talk about what intentional design actually looks like in practice.