Richard Smith

Director and Founder

BPhEd. BSc. DipTchng. DipEdMan

Richard is passionate about working with people and helping them grow professionally and personally. Over the last 6 years he has done private performance consultancy work as part of Lightsmith Performance Consultancy. This has included work with Synlait Dairy, Ngai Tahu, NZ Rugby, English Rugby Union, BUPA Healthcare, KiwiCare, Lincoln University, NZ Spinal Trust, Farmlands, Craigmore Farms, Golden Healthcare, RX Plastics, NZ Merino, RMPP Action Network and Sheffield Recruitment. He is also a founding Trustee on the Canterbury Sports Development Academy Trust- Tātai Whetū Waitaha.

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Previous roles

  • High-Performance Leader at Crusaders Super Rugby, responsible for people and performance. He was responsible for player contracting, oversaw the growth of the Support Team personnel numbers and capability, the development of the new HP Training facility and established the first Super Rugby Academy in the country.

  • 5 years as High-Performance Coach Development Manager for NZ Cricket – a ‘greenfields’ role developing the HP Coaching Strategy, Success Profile, Succession Plan, establishment and delivery of the Hp Development Programme, as well as putting in place coach recruitment and review processes for NZC and partner Major Associations

  • Prior to this he worked in education as a teacher, HOD, Assistant Principal and Lecturer. He is a graduate of the University of Otago and University of Canterbury.

  • 11 years as a High-Performance Coaching Consultant for High Performance Sport NZ. He worked alongside key high-performance coaches in Athletics, Cricket, Bike, Triathlon, Paralympics and the Winter Olympic Programme, assisting them in ongoing professional development. 

  • He is a published author, co-writing ‘Sports Coaching and Learning’ with Neil Fleming and Graeme Robson. In his spare time, he has previously played rugby to 1st Class level; been involved in white water kayaking and multi-sport, has competed in the Coast to Coast, and these days enjoys riding his bike and fly fishing.

  • A rugby coach at various levels for the last 22 years including Canterbury U19, Colts, Canterbury B, and in 2007 a World Championship winning coach with NZ U19 at the IRB U19 World Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland.