Forfeiting Homegrown Talent

Charlisse WHO?

Charlisse Leger-Walker is New Zealand's up and coming NBA star.

Mark my words, this girl is going places.

Already she's blazing a trail as one of the most successful basketball players in her league.

At just 16 years old she played for the Tall Ferns.

However earlier this year she wowed the crowd when she was named most outstanding player for her performance with the Washington State Cougars at the Pac-12 tournament.

Not only that, but her total of 76 points was the highest in women's Pac-12 tournament history.

So, why haven't you heard of her you ask?

Forfeiting Talent.

Because of what I believe to be a huge issue here in Aotearoa.

We're terrible at nurturing our homegrown talent.

Across all industries.

And it's causing us to lose them.

It's not until they're out "making it big" overseas that we claim them.

But where was the support in their growth?

Absence of Aid.

I know what you're thinking:

"What are you talking about?? We nurtured the All Blacks into what they are today!"

Well, that's the end of the line when it comes to government support, unfortunately.

Take Israel Adesanya, for example.

UFC middleweight champion of the world.

And he wasn't even allowed to train at his gym during the lockdowns.

Adesanya took to social media to call out our government for supporting other teams' ability to get exemptions to come and go from the country as they pleased.

While receiving no support for him or his team.

And the result? Isreal said he'd never fight on NZ soil again.

Boom, just like that.

We've lost one of our most talented athletes.

Missing Opportunities.

This isn't dissimilar to the way we nurture our business talent.

There's a fundamental lack of recognition when it comes to organisations and their staff,

and oftentimes, we're too late to the punch.

I think the issue within our warped perception of success.

We don't recognise it while it's bubbling.

It's like we've got the wool pulled over our eyes.

Those who achieve success like Charlisse and Israel, often accredit the unwavering support of the teams around them.

Outside of that, there's little to none.

So our young protégées often believe that to "make it" you have to go overseas.

For example, when we look at basketball in New Zealand, we've got a huge opportunity.

It's quickly become the most fastest growing game for kids here.

Why are we not seizing that?

Why is it underfunded and under represented?

Because we lack the infrastructure to do so.

The consequence is that when we have talent like Charlisse, the chances of her joining the WNBA and taking off to America are really high.

So high in fact, that she's already being prospected.

But this isn't just in sport.

It's a phenomenon across all industries in the country.

There's only a certain level of "success" people can achieve before they become stunted and need to leave.

I understand we are a small and relatively new country,

but there's some real work that needs to be done to expand our systems and infrastructure to facilitate homegrown talent.

What more can we do to hold on to these people?

Some food for thought!