One of New Zealand's most respected sports administrators is adding his voice to the growing calls for athletes to have more say and much better support.
In the wake of the death of Olympic cyclist Olivia Podmore last week, officials, athletes, and concerned parents all say the current high performance system is broken.
As the former boss of the World Anti-Doping Agency - David Howman's dealt with some of the biggest issues in world sport involving the likes of Lance Armstrong and Maria Sharapova.
But right now - he's concerned with what's happening closer to home.
"An athlete's commission is really important in every sport," Howman tells Newshub.
A commission would give athletes an impartial voice, and the model's success overseas is why Howman's been pushing for it here.
"I was working on it when I was in Montreal, we set up an athlete group at the world anti-doping agency in about 2007.
"The whole organisation benefited from that athlete's voice, and still benefits."
Howman is one of a growing number of people calling for action.
"Now is the moment we must create this change, because we can't lose anymore athletes to sporting environments who aren't looking after them,'' says Senior Lecturer at the University of Waikato, Holly Thorpe.
"Athletes have nowhere to go, they have no say, they can't affect change in the system, they can't get representation in the system," adds WADA Athlete Committee and the NZOC Athlete Commission's Ben Sandford.
Since Podmore's death, several sources have told Newshub that they feel there's a serious lack of independent confidentiality and a conflict of interest with the current model.
In some cases, coaches have been able to access private personal information - which they weren't privy too - including medical appointments and complaints against them.
"It really does come down to situations as simple as those people you trust and respect, people who will keep your confidences, people who will make sure you're looked after because you can't look after yourself," says Howman.
Howman hopes administrators are listening.. and changes are implemented sooner rather than later.
