Our latest episode is with Tom Gardiner, who is the performance psychologist and player care coordinator at a WSL club. Toni and Brad shared a supervisor with Tom over the past year or so and he has offered plenty of advice on navigating a career in the world of sport psychology and football. It was great to catch up and chat about key psychological components of player support in academy football, like identity, dealing with pressure and offering support for players through parents. We also discuss the growth of the women’s game - a theme which has come up a few times so far in season 2 – and how young girls now have role models to look up to through players that represent them.   Tom knows his stuff and draws on the breadth of experience he has acquired within his current role to provide our listeners with great insight into what working in the world of academy football is like as well as offering solid pieces of advice for young players. As hosts, we again learned a lot; like ‘dropping the ego’ and adapting to the needs of players. We hope you also take something from the episode and enjoy listening. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-gardiner-20a948137/   Talking Points    1.     Intro and welcome to episode (00:00 – 3:19) 2.     Tom’s experience in sport growing up (3:19 – 10:07) 3.     Experience with wellbeing / psychology as an athlete (10:07 – 15:08) 4.     Journey to role as performance psychologist and player care coordinator at WSL club (15:08 – 18:14) 5.     Common areas players struggle to cope with (18:14 – 26:16) 6.     Supporting players as a parent (26:16 – 36:44) 7.     Helping players to deal with pressure (36:44 – 41:58) 8.     Using your support network to deal with pressure (41:58 – 45:37) 9.     Being part of the growth of women’s football (45:37 – 50:15) 10.  Looking after his own wellbeing (50:15 – 52:31) 11.  Advice for young players (52:31 – 54:09) 12.  Closing thoughts (54:09 – 55:55)