La Source was born at the intersection of pursuing performance in elite sport, discovering purpose and seeking the relevance of faith in relationship to these two things.

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Growing up in New Zealand in the 1990s, watching and idolising the All Blacks, the most successful team in professional sports history., becoming an All Black was not only the ultimate dream of success, but respect.

Legends of the game embodied an image of masculinity that left little room for weakness or vulnerability. Success and respect was earned through toughness, resilience, and performance.

Simultaneously being raised in a Christian family on a retreat centre, from a young age I saw where the broken, burnt-out, and wounded came for healing and restoration. Curiously trying to reconcile the discrepancy between these two worlds: the height of human performance and depth of human brokenness.

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In pursuit of my dream to be a professional rugby player, recurrent injury, frustration and disappointment led me to a point of personal and identity crisis, forcing me to confront deeper questions:

• Who am I without sport?

• What is my purpose beyond my sports performance, whether I'm successful or not?

• What relevance does faith have to my life as a passionate competitive athlete?

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Alongside the feeling of my dream to be a professional rugby player being shattered, I felt disillusioned with my job as a physiotherapist. That was supposed to be my back up plan 'after' a successful sports career, not before it had even started !

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That season of failure and the ensuing journey becoming the birthplace of vision.

Feeling lost, discouraged, overwhelming grief and completely isolated incited a deep desire and profound pursuit to discover answers to these questions. I came to realise I wasn't the only athlete struggling with these questions of identity, purpose and faith in and beyond sport and performance. Soon after discovering the answers for myself through a Christian sports campI decided that I was compelled to help other athletes discover these answers for themselves.

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After more than a decade walking alongside elite athletes as a physiotherapist, sports chaplain, and mentor, from academy prospects to international representatives, I began to recognise a consistent pattern. Even the most successful athletes wrestle with questions of identity, purpose, belonging, and isolation.

Seasons of vulnerability whether through injury, loss of form, career transition, or even after significant success often expose a profound and, in my view, unacceptable lack of holistic wellbeing support and trusted support systems.

As athletes increasingly invited me into the deeper realities of their lives, not only onto the field of play, but into their homes and families, I discovered that, regardless of their level of achievement, financial success, or public recognition, these same hidden struggles specifically of Identity tied to performance. Isolation and insecurity remained hidden behind success. The pressure to provide, fear of career transition, injury, loss of form, and the challenges of living far from home and navigating unfamiliar cultures were common experiences that too often went unseen and unsupported.

 

Experiencing the profound impact of safe, authentic community and being entrusted with spaces where athletes could speak openly about purpose, family, faith, parenthood, pressure, and doubt only deepened my conviction and strengthened my passion. Making it increasingly clear that elite athletes don't simply need performance-focused support; they need holistic wellbeing support, to be valued and cared for as people first, not simply as athletes.

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This is the inspiration behind La Source: to create a place of refuge, belonging, and authentic community where trusted relationships can flourish. A place where elite athletes and their families are genuinely known, cared for, and supported in all areas of their life as they discover their identity and purpose to flourish in sport, life, and family beyond performance.​