Testimonials
Testimonial Video
Regan Ware, Olympic Sevens Medalist.
Previous Clients
"I met Kerry in 2020 while struggling with injury and confidence. He not only welcomed me into his athletics group, but also into his family. Even though I lived five hours away, he always made me feel part of his team.
Kerry’s no-nonsense but caring nature brings together like-minded individuals across all sports. He spends hours designing personalised programs, always taking the time to celebrate both athletic and life milestones. His encouragement has inspired me to dream big, set high goals, and truly believe in my potential.
"A good coach can change the game, but a great coach can change a life." Kerry has changed mine — as a mentor, a coach, and a lifelong friend.
Kerry creates an environment where athletes take ownership of their performance. He recognises individual challenges, celebrates strengths, and fosters a culture of support and learning among teammates. Every program is co-designed with his athletes to align with their goals, and his attention to detail — from meticulous session notes to ongoing feedback — reflects his passion and care.
He is the definition of a lifelong learner, constantly reflecting, improving, and sharing his knowledge across a range of sports and athlete levels. Whether working with young athletes or top coaches, Kerry treats everyone with the same respect, positivity, and generosity of spirit.
During lockdown, he continued to uplift and connect with athletes daily, making sure no one was left behind. His impact on me has been profound - not just in athletics, but in life. Kerry and his team have become my extended family, and for that, I will forever be grateful."
Kerry’s no-nonsense but caring nature brings together like-minded individuals across all sports. He spends hours designing personalised programs, always taking the time to celebrate both athletic and life milestones. His encouragement has inspired me to dream big, set high goals, and truly believe in my potential.
"A good coach can change the game, but a great coach can change a life." Kerry has changed mine — as a mentor, a coach, and a lifelong friend.
Kerry creates an environment where athletes take ownership of their performance. He recognises individual challenges, celebrates strengths, and fosters a culture of support and learning among teammates. Every program is co-designed with his athletes to align with their goals, and his attention to detail — from meticulous session notes to ongoing feedback — reflects his passion and care.
He is the definition of a lifelong learner, constantly reflecting, improving, and sharing his knowledge across a range of sports and athlete levels. Whether working with young athletes or top coaches, Kerry treats everyone with the same respect, positivity, and generosity of spirit.
During lockdown, he continued to uplift and connect with athletes daily, making sure no one was left behind. His impact on me has been profound - not just in athletics, but in life. Kerry and his team have become my extended family, and for that, I will forever be grateful."
Tayla Brunger
Triple NZ U20 Sprint Champion, USA Scholarship Holder.
Testimonials
"When it comes to showing my full potential, I can always count on Kerry to bring it out. Kerry has always been there for me through the good and bad times of my athletic career. When I was suffering from one of the major injuries I have ever gotten, Kerry was able to bring me to the right people to be able to recover faster and make me achieve my goal of going to World Juniors. Kerry is one of my biggest supporters, and he always believes in me even though I do not believe in myself.
When I first started athletics, my self-confidence was really low. After working with Kerry over the years, my self-confidence was able to slowly build-up which I believe made me able to perform a lot better. I know my performance can sometimes be erratic; however, Kerry constantly believes in me and has faith in me when others lose hope in me.
The times I am running now is all thanks to Kerry. Without his wisdom and knowledge, I would still be that same girl that had no idea how to sprint properly and be constantly injured due to wrong form. Even though he is coaching me remotely, I have learnt a lot more from him. I honour his patience because sometimes it can be really difficult to communicate.
Kerry is a hard coach to replace and even though the remote coaching is difficult, there is no other coach I would choose to train with."
When I first started athletics, my self-confidence was really low. After working with Kerry over the years, my self-confidence was able to slowly build-up which I believe made me able to perform a lot better. I know my performance can sometimes be erratic; however, Kerry constantly believes in me and has faith in me when others lose hope in me.
The times I am running now is all thanks to Kerry. Without his wisdom and knowledge, I would still be that same girl that had no idea how to sprint properly and be constantly injured due to wrong form. Even though he is coaching me remotely, I have learnt a lot more from him. I honour his patience because sometimes it can be really difficult to communicate.
Kerry is a hard coach to replace and even though the remote coaching is difficult, there is no other coach I would choose to train with."
Marielle Venida
2025 NZ senior women 200m champion; World U20 rep 2024, World Universities rep 2025; NZ U20 100m winner 2024, 2022
Testimonials
“I am very, very lucky to have Kerry here. His experience goes so deep and I am really honoured to have him as my coach”. B.O.P. Times, 2015
Kodi Harman
World Surf Lifesaving Champs, France, 2014, bronze in senior beach sprint; NZ senior, U20, U18 100m champion; World U20 & U18 NZ rep
The following testimonials are from earlier periods of Kerry’s career and showcase the foundations of his long-standing coaching expertise.
Testimonials
"Kerry always displayed compassion, caring, empathy, and good humor — while inspiring and motivating his athletes to be the very best they can be. The coaching culture Kerry created in Auckland during the 1980s and 1990s has influenced my own teaching and coaching for over twenty years. His ability to nurture athletes to be kind, honest, confident, and authentic is something I will always cherish.
I benefited from one of the truly great New Zealand coaches — in any sport. Kerry’s impact on my athletic and personal development has been of paramount importance throughout my professional career. The highest compliment I can pay Kerry is that I viewed him as a second father while he nurtured and supported me, both athletically and personally."
I benefited from one of the truly great New Zealand coaches — in any sport. Kerry’s impact on my athletic and personal development has been of paramount importance throughout my professional career. The highest compliment I can pay Kerry is that I viewed him as a second father while he nurtured and supported me, both athletically and personally."
Darren Dale, Ph.D.
Health Sciences Department, Eastern Connecticut State University, USA
Testimonials
"I competed for New Zealand in two sports, and then worked for UK Athletics and the English Institute in Sport so I feel well qualified to comment on how valuable the training ethos of Kerry and that group were on my performance. Somewhere along the way I learned to lean into hard work, to relish the challenges that come with digging deep and paying the cost up front for gains and results that at the time are only a dream. To me, the fact that Kerry was with me along the way and never asked for me than my attendance and commitment is testament to the impact that one person can have on placing New Zealand on a sport stage! I hope he is able to appreciate and enjoy the massive impact he has had on so many of New Zealand’s top performers."
Alan Henderson
Triple Olympian
Testimonials
"I wish to support Kerry with these observations. I think what we did was essentially set up a framework for life whereby a group of like-minded people worked together to advance everyone's cause!. The foundation of our success was hard work, inclusiveness and respect for one another. The icing on the cake was the fun we had which without fail, left us wanting more! Although ours was an individual sport, no one was bigger than the team!"
Doug Pirini
4th Commonwealth Games decathlon, and Olympian
Testimonials
"It was an absolute honour and privilege to be a part of Kerry Hill’s training group. It is difficult to summarise in a few sentences how impactful Kerry was in my life. Being a part of Kerry’s squad was to be part of a family; training with Kerry led to huge personal growth and positive changes in my life. Training with Kerry was my favourite part of the day - through this I learnt to push through obstacles and that the reward is found in the journey. Kerry was a strict coach, but he facilitated a group of amazing like minded people upon whom I could always depend. Looking back, it is the laughter and joking that I remember the most. I loved these people and without exception they have all gone on to great things in their lives and overcome life challenges, due in no small part to the significant life lessons we all learnt from Kerry."
Helen Lowes
Former NZ 400m Senior Woman Medallist
Testimonials
"I have fond memories being part of Kerry Hills squad. Reflecting back they were the best days of my life. He installed resilience in me and faith I could return and be better than I was. We nic named him Legend, Farmer, Kay Hill and to me not only a coach but my life mentor.
With Kerry I had many training partners which became a big part of my life. Kerry built this inclusive atmosphere in which we also just hung out together socially. Kerry always valued each athlete and got to know us personally and our family. He made training fun and made many group trips around the country to keep training interesting and create a strong team building atmosphere. Kerry has a magnetic personality. I never wanted to give up and I wanted to train hard in a fun environment. Kerry created a whanau like atmosphere in his coaching. This was a big part of his philosophy. Many times I would stay at his house, have dinner or he would if ever in the North stay at my parents and deliver athletic coaching workshops to the remote Far North.
His enthisuiasm and passion is infectious. I wanted to keep training, competing as long as I could. I had a mindset shift and break through and within a few years of consistent hard training I was competing at the Oceania Games, training in Singapore and competing in Europe in preparation for the World University Games in Japan. I was representing New Zealand in Athletics, beaming with pride.
The day Kerry announced he was shifting to Singapore I was heart broken. I knew I was on the come back and the coach athlete bond we had was a game changer in my life. He installed resilience in me, inner faith to back myself, hard work pays off , have fun with it, build a whanau like context in your training group where we all looked after each other. He built this atmosphere of inclusivenss and awhi for each of us. The whanau like atmosphere he created supported me emotionally and is the values I upheld today. He has became a life long friend to not only me, my children, partner and family.
Whanaungatanga- Kerry installs family like atmosphere where the squad supported each other not only in training but in life. He was able to connect a group of people from all walks of life and bring us together.
Aroha- Kerry and his family loved each one of us as people. He was interested in us and worked out how we ticked. He then could key in and put what awhi / support we needed in place, he knew when to push us and when to back off.
Mana tangata- Kerry was a mana enhancer. He would always be respectful and install pride in me by telling me I could do it and it was only me holding me back. This was a mindset I had feeling not good enough. Once my mindset changed I was away.
Kawenga ako- he always had vision and was well planned in our specific trainings. He would change venues for variety and encouraged us to be prepared for the unexpected.
Kerry I see as our gift. He more than willingly shares his knowledge and has awhi for everyone. He is a speed guru-god!"
With Kerry I had many training partners which became a big part of my life. Kerry built this inclusive atmosphere in which we also just hung out together socially. Kerry always valued each athlete and got to know us personally and our family. He made training fun and made many group trips around the country to keep training interesting and create a strong team building atmosphere. Kerry has a magnetic personality. I never wanted to give up and I wanted to train hard in a fun environment. Kerry created a whanau like atmosphere in his coaching. This was a big part of his philosophy. Many times I would stay at his house, have dinner or he would if ever in the North stay at my parents and deliver athletic coaching workshops to the remote Far North.
His enthisuiasm and passion is infectious. I wanted to keep training, competing as long as I could. I had a mindset shift and break through and within a few years of consistent hard training I was competing at the Oceania Games, training in Singapore and competing in Europe in preparation for the World University Games in Japan. I was representing New Zealand in Athletics, beaming with pride.
The day Kerry announced he was shifting to Singapore I was heart broken. I knew I was on the come back and the coach athlete bond we had was a game changer in my life. He installed resilience in me, inner faith to back myself, hard work pays off , have fun with it, build a whanau like context in your training group where we all looked after each other. He built this atmosphere of inclusivenss and awhi for each of us. The whanau like atmosphere he created supported me emotionally and is the values I upheld today. He has became a life long friend to not only me, my children, partner and family.
Whanaungatanga- Kerry installs family like atmosphere where the squad supported each other not only in training but in life. He was able to connect a group of people from all walks of life and bring us together.
Aroha- Kerry and his family loved each one of us as people. He was interested in us and worked out how we ticked. He then could key in and put what awhi / support we needed in place, he knew when to push us and when to back off.
Mana tangata- Kerry was a mana enhancer. He would always be respectful and install pride in me by telling me I could do it and it was only me holding me back. This was a mindset I had feeling not good enough. Once my mindset changed I was away.
Kawenga ako- he always had vision and was well planned in our specific trainings. He would change venues for variety and encouraged us to be prepared for the unexpected.
Kerry I see as our gift. He more than willingly shares his knowledge and has awhi for everyone. He is a speed guru-god!"
Suzanne Coleman
World University Games Sprinter