On today's episode we pick the brains of the brilliant Gordon MacLelland. Gordon is the CEO and founder of 'Working with Parents in Sport', and the parent to sporty kids of his own, making him the perfect guest to address a topic we've been keen to explore for a while.    In sport, it can be quick to overlook parents as we are so focused on supporting the athletes. There might also be a bit of anxiousness around working with parents, but the importance of parents in sport can't be...

On this episode we talk to the wonderful Dr Arabella Ashfield - recorded in the podcast studio at Leeds Trinity University. Arabella has extensive experience in performance lifestyle. She has worked for the UK Sport Institute (UKSI; formerly EIS) for the past 15 years, initially as a performance lifestyle advisor with GB canoeing before progressing to a senior performance lifestyle coach with the GB Olympic Cycling Team. She is currently the Performance Lifestyle Research Lead at the...

On this episode we speak to Karl Colley, an ex professional footballer born in Sheffield. Karl relished the dream of so many young players by signing a professional contract at 17. Karl signed with Sheffield Wednesday - the rivals of his boyhood club Sheffield United. He later had spells at Newcastle United before returning home to Sheffield, signing at the opposite side of the city with Sheffield United. But that 'dream' opportunity of playing professional football isn't always what it...

On this episode we talk to the amazing Jen Coe. Jen is an advocate of greater gender equity and inclusivity in sport and is dedicated to promoting well-being across the sporting landscape. With over two decades of experience working in high performance environments, she champions a culture of performance through well-being in her work with organisations and individuals. Jen has worked from grassroots to elite level across a portfolio of sports, in roles such as coaching, analysis, coach...

We launch season 4 with a bang as we talk to the one and only Dr Pete Olusoga. Anybody interested in sport psychology will know of Pete, whether that’s through his educational wellbeing snippets on social media, tuning in to the eighty percent mental podcast (which Pete hosts) or having been one of Pete’s many students. Toni and Brad have admired Pete from a far for some time and were buzzing to hear that he was willing to appear on the pod.   The 3 chat largely about stress, burnout and...

🚨SEASON 4 COMING MONDAY SEPTEMBER 2ND🚨 We know you’ve missed us, but have no fear because we are BACK. Toni and Brad have been very busy off the back of what was a hugely successful season 3. Take a listen to find out what they have in store for you over this next season!

An opportunity to learn more about your hosts Brad and Toni, the creation and development of the Young Player Wellbeing Academy / Podcast and some key experiences that have shaped them as practitioners. The pair are interviewed by Dr Richard Simpson in the podcast studio at Leeds Trinity University. Talking Points 1. Intro and welcome to episode (00:00) 2. Why do we work in psychology / wellbeing? (2:48) 3. What is the Young Player Wellbeing Academy? (10:50) 4. What wellbeing means...

On this episode we speak to player care consultant, counsellor, mentor and aspiring coach Jake Jervis. Jake is an ex professional footballer, having had a successful career that included spells at Plymouth Argyle, Luton Town and Ross County as well as time in India, Finland and Turkey. Like most ex pro's, Jake picked up a wide range of skills and attributes from football. But Jake is more than just a footballer. He is a passionate, family - orientated individual that wants to support the...

Our latest episode is with Dr Paul Mansell. Paul is an expert on the psychology of stress in sport, having conducted a PhD focused on just that. Since then, Paul has taken up a role as a lecturer in sport and exercise psychology at Staffordshire University. Interestingly, Paul is also a podcast host, heading up ‘The Performing Under Pressure Podcast’. On the pod Paul chats to former professional footballers and other high-level performers about how they view and cope with pressure in their...

Our latest episode, recorded in the Leeds Trinity University podcast studio, is with one of their senior lecturers in sport psychology and published researcher in the field, Dr Helen Heaviside. Helen's research focuses on interpersonal expectancies and impression management. Brad and Toni had absolutely 0 idea about until recording this episode. This episode serves as a major learning experience for as both and forced us to reflect on how expectations affect others and the best ways to...

On this episode we talk to Dr Luke Barnes, in a special, shorter episode which we recorded in the podcast studio at Leeds Trinity University. Luke worked with an English Championship academy club for 6+ years as an academy psychologist. Throughout this time, Luke played a vital role in driving values, working closely with both staff and players to do so. This aligns well with Luke's PhD, which focused on integrity and English football. We discuss the work Luke implemented in this space in...

This week we are joined by Sport and Exercise Psychologist and founder of AfrowithJeevi and The Dare Platform, Jeevi Pillai. Jeevi has paved her own lane in the field, combining dance and sport psychology, currently residing in Nairobi, Kenya.  Jeevi brings with her a wealth of experience. Starting her sport psychology journey in her home nation of Singapore, Jeevi spent 2 spells as a Sport Psychologist at the National Youth Sports Institute in Singapore. As sport psychologists supporting...

Our guest today is Director of Player Wellbeing at the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Dr Michael Bennett. Michael is a former professional footballer, making over 150 appearances in the football league, having also represented England at U20 level. Unfortunately, like so many, Michael experienced a difficult injury in the early stages of his career. He speaks openly on this, admitting he never fully recovered from it, ultimately hampering his playing career. Despite this...

On this episode we get the opportunity to talk to the legendary 'elite sport sleep coach' Nick Littlehales. Nick is a #1 international best selling author with his book 'Sleep' and has worked with some of the top performing athletes, clubs and coaches in the world, including Manchester United and Alex Ferguson; heard of them? He is the creator of the R90 Technique which has revolutionised the way so many look at sleep. This technique helps individuals to optimise recovery to maximise...

This week we are joined by performance psychologist Hugh Gilmore. Hugh has worked at the highest levels in sport, including roles as a psychologist for Olympic and Paralympic teams at Rio and Tokyo. On the episode, we draw on Hugh's knowledge and experience to shed light on some of the harsh realities of the world of sport, and offer tips to help athletes deal with this. Hugh has a unique outlook on the world and is unafraid to challenge the viewpoint of others, making for quite an...

To launch season 3, we are joined by Double Olympian, performance sport specialist and mental health advocate Jack Green. Jack is competitive, driven and ambitious and has competed at the highest level. But as we know, success in sport / work does not always equate to happiness and fulfilment in life. This rings true for Jack, who publicly spoke about his poor mental health after London 2012 - a time where mental health support for athletes was limited. These games were something Jack had...

Hello wonderful listeners and welcome back! As always on The Young Player Wellbeing Podcast we have been hard at work making sure that this season keeps building on what has been an incredible growth of the podcast so far. Not only have there been changes to the graphics and the jingle, we have been hard at work tweaking the pod so that our listeners can get even more out of our recordings. As well as improving our delivery, we have continued on from our theme of getting insightful and...

20 episodes in 20 weeks, 19 guests in total, triple the amount of listeners and a massive increase in followers on our social media accounts. Season 2 has been an incredible journey for Antonio and Brad. In their final episode tune in to hear the duo pick apart season 2, addressing the key takeaways from the season as well as key topics that were covered. Furthermore, the episode highlights episodes that our listeners may not have managed to catch this season giving them the opportunity to...

On todays episode we chat to sport psychology consultant, S&C coach and sport diversity leader David Smith. David has been using his platform as an openly gay coach to support athletes from the LGBTQ+ community in recent years. He shares with us some significant challenges he experiences as a young gay athlete, competing in the gay games and how this has ultimately shaped his career today. We also chat about how to deal with homophobia in the workplace and why it is essential that we use...

On today's episode Brad gets the chance to speak to expert in mental health in women's football, Carly Perry. Carly grew up in the States and comes in with a different past experience of sport psychology / wellbeing growing up as an athlete than most guests we speak to on the podcast. This is largely due to cultural difference between the US and UK, which is a recurring theme throughout this episode. We also get the chance to go into detail on Carly's PhD project which was extremely useful...

On our latest episode we chat to HCPC accredited sport and exercise psychologist, Ryan Pelling. Ryan is someone Brad and Toni have known for a couple of years, having been part of the same supervision group throughout that time. Ryan has had a lot of experience working in football as a sport psychologist, both as a trainee and as an accredited practitioner. We try to bring Ryan’s experience to life to learn more about some of the common areas of support Ryan has found himself providing in the...

On this episode we chat to Nina Wilson, who will be joining us as a Wellbeing Coach at The Young Player Wellbeing Academy very soon, as we make our first steps into working in the women's game. As well as working on the YPWA, Nina is a professional footballer, having recently moved up to Scotland to play for Hibs in the SWPL. This season we have spent a lot of time understanding the demands of male academy football by chatting to guests. This was a great opportunity for us to learn more...

On this episode Brad and Toni chat to Ewan McLevy. Ewan is currently playing in the West of Scotland junior league for Troon FC, studying football coach performance and development at Edinburgh Napier and is a coach for the U14's at Kilmarnock FC. Our guest played with Kilmarnock FC's academy for around 8 years. We talk about the highs and lows of academy football, including attending a performance school, making sacrifices and picking up skills that can help you later in life....