Who we are

The Coach for Life Foundation was established by Jon & Sue Tanner and a group of foundation Trustees via their Charitable Trust, the Sport Development and Innovation Charitable Trust, with a clear objective of growing the quality of youth sport coaches in New Zealand.

The inspiration for the foundation is based on the positive impact that sport had in developing Jon as a person. He believes his successes in life are directly attributed to his involvement in sport - some of the most influential people in Jon’s life have been sports coaches.

He is concerned with the quality of youth sport coaching, and the alarming number of youth dropping out of sport, therefore missing out on the benefits that Jon himself experienced.

As a result, Jon is committed to inspiring coaches to make a difference through the Coach for Life Foundation.

Born in Auckland, Andrew was educated at Auckland Grammar and then AUT.  He originally began his career in accountancy, but moved quickly into sales and marketing, including 13 years with the adidas Group.

Andrew was Marketing Manager for adidas NZ, responsible for the launch and commercialisation of adidas’ partnership with NZ rugby; at the time adidas International’s largest sports marketing investment.

He then spent four years in Amsterdam as the Global Head of Rugby, where he led the rugby business unit. In this role, Andrew renegotiated an extension of their NZ Rugby contract, signed the British and Irish Lions for their tour of NZ in 2005 and was involved in securing and leveraging partnerships with individual athletes including Jonah Lomu, Jonny Wilkinson, Dan Carter and Richie McCaw.

After 11 years working internationally, Andrew returned to NZ in 2012 and has held executive leadership roles with both Konica Minolta, TruTest and Datamars. Additionally, Andrew has served on the board of both Hockey NZ and Kristin School and has been involved in community sport as a coach, manager, referee and umpire.

Lizzie grew up on Auckland’s North Shore and attended Carmel College.  After leaving school, she chose a working path over study which led her into a long career within the marketing and advertising industry, establishing herself as both an agency Account Director and Brand Manager.

Lizzie also has experience managing and working with several not-for-profits and is passionate about supporting those focussed on helping youth.

A social sport player at school, she has also seen first hand with her own children how a positive sporting experience can change a life, and she is thrilled to be able to help drive this mission within her role at the Foundation.