New Zealand is a small nation of five million people with a large passion for sport. Though sport is highly valued, the career pathways for sport psychology professionals are limited but slowly growing. Sport psychology does not have its own organizing body in NZ, and so the pathway to becoming a sport psychology practitioner is a little murky. As within many other countries, in NZ, the professional title “psychologist” is a legally protected title and only those who are currently registered by the New Zealand Psychologists Board can practice under this title. For one to work as a sport psychologist, the best pathway is to complete the requirements of becoming registered as a psychologist first. This involves completing a minimum of a master’s d practicum or internship involving 1500 hours of supervised practice.

Many universities in New Zealand offer bachelor’s and master’s degree programs in psychology, and offer specialized programs in health, clinical, and counseling psychology. Any of these pathways provide a way forward to working with psychological principles and methods in the sport context. However, as there is no specialized program in sport psychology in NZ, including undergraduate and post- graduate courses in sport psychology topics and sport science is helpful. After completing the requirements to get registered as a psychologist, the next step in developing expertise in sport psychology involves practicing in a sport setting under the supervision and guidance of an experienced psychologist who has or is working in a sporting context. Most practitioners in NZ achieve a clinical psychology degree and specialize in sport performance through internships unless they obtain a master’s degree or Ph.D. from another country. Furthermore, though the Certified Mental Performance Consultant (CMPC) certification has taken off in the US and other Northern Hemisphere countries, NZ does not seem to have engaged with that certification within the sport psychology field yet. It is unlikely that supervision could be performed through a CMPC mentor unless that mentor is a licensed psychologist or the potential mentor applied to become a non-certified approved mentor and was accepted into the Registry of Approved Mentors by the CMPC Certification Council’s Mentorship Committee.

The other pathway that individuals can choose to take to practice sport psychology in NZ is through Sport and Exercise Science New Zealand (SESNZ) which can provide accreditation to become a mental skills trainer. SESNZ is an organization designed “to promote, encourage, and develop the proper use of exercise science and technology to improve the exercise, sport, and health performance of New Zealanders” (SESNZ, n.d.) and provides opportunities for accreditation in several sport science domains – much like the BASES model in the UK. The first step is to become a Registered Exercise Sport Scientist (RESS), and it requires a bachelor’s degree in the field of exercise science and 140 hours of practical experience. The second step is to complete a postgraduate qualification in the field of exercise science and/or mental skills followed by 360 hours of practical work within the domains stipulated by SESNZ for mental skills training. This will lead to a Level 2 certification as an Accredited Exercise and Sport Science Practitioner (AESSP).

While there are a few private practice practitioners who offer their services in NZ, most sport psychology practitioners are employed through High Performance Sport New Zealand (HPSNZ) – the sport organization that supports high performance athletes and coaches ranging from developmental (age-group) performance to professional, Olympic, and Paralympic contexts. Common sports in which sport psychology professionals work with in NZ include rugby, netball, and cricket, as there is infrastructure for professional leagues in those sports. However, most athletes cannot make a living only playing sport and tend to have other careers as well. This lack of funding around sport in NZ is one of the reasons that sport psychology services are not readily available for athletes and coaches at youth and recreational levels. Hopefully, as more funding is injected into support services for New Zealand sports, more athletes and coaches will be able to access these services.