Kiwi app keeping kids in sport scores European football pilot

A Kiwi tech start-up aiming to fix one of youth sport’s biggest problems is expanding onto the global stage with a breakthrough partnership in Europe.

CoachMate is tackling the trend of young people dropping out of sport by supporting those on the sidelines - volunteer coaches, teachers and parents.

"It's not a given that a kid is going to show up to a sports experience and have a great time," founder and chief executive Michelle Walshe told BNZ Business Breakfast.

"I think in a perfect world, every kid would rock up to school sport or to a club sport, and they'd just have a fantastic experience."

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But that's not always the reality.

Research showed many kids are walking away from sports in their teenage years. A recent study found girls were dropping out at twice the rate of boys by age 14.

CoachMate's solution is a mobile app delivering short, practical coaching support.

"We help you identify who you're coaching, give you really good tools that you can watch in 90 seconds in the car if you're time-poor, and then deliver a really fun and engaging session for the kids."

The product was free for end users.

"How we make money is we have relationships with the national sports organisations," Walshe said.

Instead of charging parents or volunteers, CoachMate sells directly to governing bodies, turning grassroots sport into an enterprise opportunity.

That model was already generating revenue - something relatively rare for an early-stage startup, Walshe said.

"We're sustaining ourselves very early on… and that's because of the size of the contracts and the scale of them."

"We only have 13 customers, but they are really significant."

It put the company in a different position from many high-growth tech firms.

"Do we raise money, burn cash a little faster to get that scale… the jury is a little bit out on that because we have really good momentum."

CoachMate has gained strong traction in New Zealand, with around 50,000 coaches and parents using the platform.

"We work with Basketball NZ, NZ Golf, NZ Football, NZ Hockey, Rugby League, BMX, and the Halberg Foundation for Disability and Inclusion."

Adoption has been strong at grassroots level.

"With NZ Football, for example, something like 70% of their coaches use CoachMate."

The company was growing in Australia too and had signed deals with national golf and cricket bodies.

That momentum has helped the company expand offshore - most notably with European football's governing body, UEFA.

"The breakthrough for us at the end of last year was winning a pilot for UEFA, helping support them to deliver great football experiences."

The scale of that opportunity is significant.

"UEFA's school program alone has 7 million participants… it's really big numbers."

CoachMate was also leaning into artificial intelligence to improve its product and efficiency.

"I think it's allowed us as a small team of 10 to do the work of a team of 20 or more."

AI was being used to personalise training and translate content into different languages, helping the platform scale across markets without dramatically increasing costs.

Despite its early commercial success, Walshe said the company's focus remained on impact.

"Our North Star metric is number of minutes of kids playing sport."

For her, success was measured not solely in users or revenue - but in keeping more children engaged.

"One coach that is making a difference for is impacting 10 or 15 kids or maybe hundreds in a lifetime."

Walshe said New Zealand's tech ecosystem has played a key role in CoachMate's growth.

"I think what's incredible about New Zealand is we've had so many fantastic success stories. The quality of talent is world-class."

As the company eyes further expansion, its ambitions remain both global and grounded in grassroots sport.

"We just want to see kids out there playing, and we know then that we're really succeeding."