My name is Broni McSweeney and I’ve worked as a gym instructor, personal trainer and a group fitness instructor; with high performance athletes, CEOs and home detention prisoners, people training for the police force, army and fire service, with special needs groups, athletes, dancers, circus performers, factory workers, farmers, seniors and school students. Most of you reading this probably have a very similar list. Lucky us.
In 2006 I set up Catch Fitness, to support people working in the fitness industry in Aotearoa New Zealand and via that I ran over 300 educational workshops to date, utilising some 200 presenters.
I’ve been lucky enough to be a Lecturer at AUT (Auckland University of Technology) on the personal training course for six years and at ARA (The Ara Institute of Technology) on their fitness course for four years; The Exercise Science Tutor and Body Trainer with the ARA performing arts department for five years.
I was also fortunate to present at several conferences, including: GetActiveNZ, FitEx, Tonic, YMCA and the Exercise Association Roadshow.
(If you are looking for someone to present at your next fitness conference or to your staff, check out my current presentations and give me a hoy if any interest you.)
Challenge creator
Early on in my career I was organizing Challenge events. Two of the more well known ones included The LoveNZ Challenge, a rolling Challenge and the Catch Fitness 20 Week Challenge.
That 20 Week Challenge ran 15 times, mostly during winter, so as to support both trainers and entrants at a time when I believe they most needed each other. It was rolled out by almost 200 REPs registered personal trainers and many more put their hands up to be involved. It gave away more than $100,000 in prizes and generated far more than that in income for the PTs each year! It was so successful that many PTs did it every year, and a number built their whole business around it. You can read over 100 PT reviews here.
Apart from helping others in the fitness industry develop their own bespoke Challenges, and releasing Challenge resources via this website and my workshops, I am also working on Challenges for schools, mainly the hard to reach teens, as well as workplaces.
Other stuff
- I was the fitness industry representative of the Active Canterbury Network for 10 years, sitting alongside a dozen or so others including the Heart Foundation, Council and District Health Board.
- A fitness industry course reviewer with REPs (The Register of Exercise Professionals) for several years.
- A judge at the New Zealand Exercise Industry Awards.
The greatest opportunity has been the chance to work with so many inspiring and knowledgeable people, who were crazy patient with my often slow progress and forgiving of my mistakes. They were the door-openers and the cheering squad, the safety net and the gap fillers.
Testimonials, reviews and accolades
I have been honored to receive the Outstanding Contribution to the Industry Award at the NZ Exercise Industry Awards as well as Educator of the Year and a Finalist of the Mentor Award.
If you would like some reassurances about my workshops, Challenges, presentations and lectures check out over 1000 testimonials and reviews on this testimonial page.
That’s it
The site is replacing my www.catchfitness.co.nz as I am now based in Australia and in recent time have narrowed the focus into helping trainers run their own Challenges and workshops. Accordingly I didn’t automatically include the 2000 or so Catch Fitness members from my previous database here so if you are one of them and want to stay in the loop with my monthly email please do sign up again. And please drop me an email if you have any questions, stories or ideas. I’ll always respond timely and appreciatively. You will find my contact details here.
Broni McSweeney
Catch Fitness head offices have moved from Aotearoa, New Zealand to Boorloo, Perth, Western Australia.
Catch Fitness kaadatj Noongar moort Noongar boodja-k Whadjak boodja-k. Ngalak kaadatj Noongar nedingar wer birdiya koora koora wer yeyi. Baalabang koondarm, malayin wer nakolak baalap yang ngalany-al. Ngalak dandjoo barn wer kaaratj bandang boodja-k.
Catch Fitness acknowledges the traditional custodians of this land, the Whadjak people of the Noongar Nation, and pays respect to the Elders both past and present for they hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Aboriginal Australia.