On a spring morning in late September, a conference room in Auckland filled with an unusually diverse mix of people: diplomats and officials sat alongside athletes, sport executives, and Indian government representatives.

It was here that Minister Chris Bishop launched New Zealand’s first-ever Sport Diplomacy Strategy 2025–2030, formally positioning sport as a tool of foreign policy, trade, investment, and international engagement. For a country that consistently punches above its weight on the world stage, the strategy signals a shift from an instinctive use of sport offshore to a more deliberate, coordinated approach.

The timing matters. With Brisbane set to host the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Asia–Pacific region is entering a decade of heightened sporting attention and investment. Australia has already released a sport diplomacy strategy looking beyond 2040. New Zealand’s strategy, more compact in scope, focuses on the next five years: a critical window to build capability, deepen relationships, and secure opportunities in priority markets.

At its core, the strategy reflects New Zealand’s realities. We are geographically distant, relatively small, and operate a highly specialised but resource-constrained high-performance sport system. Yet the results speak for themselves: Paris 2024 delivered New Zealand’s most successful Olympic and Paralympic campaign to date. The challenge now is how to translate sporting excellence into broader national benefit.

Unlike the heavily politicised sport diplomacy headlines dominating global news — from Saudi Arabia’s investments in football and golf to Australia’s AUD 600 million rugby league deal with Papua New Guinea — New Zealand’s approach is pragmatic. With fewer resources and a smaller GDP, the emphasis is on leveraging sport to support trade, investment, and relationships, particularly in the United States, India, and across the Pacific, where development and capability-building remain central.

That approach has already been visible in practice. During Minister Bishop’s visit to Chicago in early November, the All Blacks’ test match against Ireland became the backdrop for networking between business leaders, investors, and political stakeholders. New Zealand Rugby provided an entry point for the government to leverage the country’s global sporting identity, marketing New Zealand offshore for the benefit of the economy back home, resulting in improved new connections and overseas brand-building.

India: 100 years of sporting ties

Nowhere is the strategy’s intent clearer than in its focus on India. During the Auckland launch, the Government announced plans to mark 100 years of sporting ties between India and New Zealand in 2026, a milestone that goes beyond symbolism.

India is one of New Zealand’s fastest-growing strategic partners, and sport has long been a quiet but powerful connector. Cricket and hockey, in particular, have created enduring links between athletes, administrators, and fans in both countries.

Those links were on display in March 2025, when Prime Minister Christopher Luxon led a trade mission to India. Images circulated of an impromptu street cricket match, with ministers, local children, and officials sharing a bat and ball. At the same time, New Zealand and India signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on Sport, formalising collaboration across high performance, governance, and capability-building.

For athletes, these relationships are deeply personal. 

Black Sticks captain Sam Lane, who I recently spoke with while he was playing at the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia, says playing in the region offers experiences that extend well beyond competition. 

“We share a dining room with the Malaysians and Koreans, bumping into them in the elevator, you start to create a vibe,” Lane says. “It’s only 60 minutes on the pitch, but off it, you build real relationships."

Lane has also spent time playing professionally in India’s Hockey India League, where the atmosphere has left a lasting impression.

“I played in a final in a 22,000-seat stadium, and they probably squeezed 30,000 people in,” he recalls. “People are just excited to be there. It’s loud, it’s emotional. Sport is entertainment, and everyone’s part of it.”

That intensity carries into everyday moments. 

In Malaysia, Lane describes schoolchildren forming cheer squads so loud “you can’t talk to your teammates beside you,” including enthusiastic, if unconventional, haka attempts from the local fans.

Off the pitch, the learning runs deeper. Those experiences have shaped how Lane thinks about younger players considering sports opportunities.

“Be open to experiencing something new,” he says. “You never know what’s around the corner or the people you’ll meet. It can be so beneficial to try new things.”

For Lane, exposure to different cultures, playing styles, and environments has been as influential as any technical development, broadening his perspective both as an athlete and as a person.

“Now, having played in teams in India, I have a whole new appreciation for food and culture. You hear teammates’ stories — where their families are from, what they’ve lived through — and you gain a whole new appreciation. Some of these guys are some of my closest friends now. That doesn’t happen without sport," Lane said.

Looking ahead

With India recently announced as the host of the 2030 Commonwealth Games, as well as its proposed bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games, the country is signalling its intent to become an even bigger force in global sport. Engagement is important for New Zealand not only for competitive opportunities, but for commercial partnerships and people-to-people links.

Lane sees sport diplomacy less as a concept and more as a lived reality.

“The more we build these relationships, the more our communities at home see Asian teams coming over,” he says. “It gives people a chance to connect with their heritage and feel represented.”

He adds that sustained engagement with countries like India, Malaysia, Japan, and China is essential not only for securing test matches and competition opportunities, but for strengthening people-to-people ties that ripple back into communities across New Zealand.

Sport diplomacy, at its best, creates spaces where politics softens and trust forms. Teams from vastly different systems meet as equals on the field, and those moments ripple outward into friendships, shared understanding, and long-term relationships.

“We all want the same thing: to be better teams and better people. And the more we do that, the more our communities connect as well,” Lane reflects.

As New Zealand’s Sport Diplomacy Strategy rolls out, its success will be measured not just in medals or events hosted, but in relationships sustained and opportunities created.

(The writer is Leadership Network Member at Asia New Zealand Foundation, and a Policy Advisor at Sport New Zealand. This story was first published on Asia Media Centre)