Athletic Ambitions: Stories of Tomorrow's Champions

Olivia joined us when she was 16 and has since finished her A levels living with a host family, moved to the USA to study and play tennis on a scholarship, stayed in the USA for an additional year of tennis but without the support from her college and is now off to Loughborough university to do an MSc in Sports Physiology and continue to play tennis at the very top level.  This journey demonstrate...

Lottie is an inspiration to anyone who has a little bit of fear and anxiety around their sport. She has overcome a broken neck and the "twisties" to be able to compete at the top level, representing the GB team in tumbling.  In this interview, she talks openly about how she has been determined and resilient to keep having fun in a sport that she absolutely loves. Watch out for her at Cir...

Chloe joined CASS & Friends when she was 16 and had been selected for the GB performance academy programme for rowing.....she only just made the cut, but thank goodness she did! Less than two years later, she was in the GBR U19s team and off to compete in Paris. Since then, Chloe has gone to university in Washington, at one of the best rowing universities in the USA and in her freshman year wa...

Nia is an 18-year-old Spanish athlete competing at the highest level in a relatively new sport called Wingfoiling. She adores her sport and that shows in her results, winning all of the disciplines in the 2025 GWA World Cup Tour.  Nia has a fantastic website and Instagram profile, which has helped her to obtain some super sponsors - always important when competing at such a high level due to the t...

In the latest podcast Max Hinds talks about his cycling career, making his way from the Junior World Championships to racing with the GB team and being part of the Olympic Development Squad. His mindset is so strong and he has a clear vision of where he wants to get to, setting himself lofty goals - this is his "why" and what drives the commitment to long, hard sessions when he is alread...

Lucinda is a "legend" - her uni friends say that to her, and they are right - a SportsAid athlete who came to CASS & Friends, and we have loved supporting her, watching her steely determination and desire to succeed in whatever she sets her mind to. She loves her sport, telling us about her shooting "family" with the friends she has made since she was talent spotted as a yo...

Ellie is one of our fabulous alumni athletes who achieved the qualifying time for the U20 European Championships. Lockdown prevented her from competing and she never quite found her form after that due to injury.  This episode is an honest and open conversation about Ellie's journey; through competing as a teenager, the joy and passion she had for sprinting and then the impact of covid, start...

Ella is a 100m and 200m sprinter - she's ranked in the top 10 in Great Britain and has been a fantastic CASS & Friends athlete. Ella shares her experience of competing and managing her confidence over the years and explains the process of applying to university on a sports scholarship. She is off to a Division One university in the USA and is excited to be on the next step of her sporting...

Claire is a huge inspiration to me. She tackles one huge challenge after another and leaps into the unknown without hesitation. A double-deca Ironman athlete, she is now training for the immense challenge of the Arch to Arc triathlon. As the business owner of this event, she has many reasons why it's important to her to complete it. So, she will be running from Dover, swimming across the chan...

In this episode Adam talks about combining two sports as a child, going to the Olympics aged 18, dealing with injury and setbacks and using the Chimp Paradox to help him work with his mind.  He continues to train at the highest level as well as coaching and bringing the best out of his athletes.  He was the first British man to run under 10 seconds for 100m and 20 seconds for 200m. I hope you enjo...

In this episode, Fi explores the world of art and sport and how the two have merged beautifully for Gavin an international javelin thrower and artist who combines his passion for sport and art to keep his life in balance and his identity true to himself.  It's a great episode to help all athletes think about themselves as someone other than "an athlete" or sports person. If you woul...

I loved interviewing Josie! She has a wealth of experience in sports psychology and has written several books which are all well worth reading.  We have such a good discussion about the most common reasons she works with young athletes and she shares many strategies to help deal with many of the common issues facing athletes concerning their mindset.  Amongst other things, we talk about motivation...

In this episode Neive chats with Fi about the joy of mentoring CASS & Friends athletes.  Neive has so much advice to share with her years of competitive rowing at the elite level and now as an age group multi sport athlete.  Neive has helped many CASS & Friends athletes work on the mental side of their performance and we are lucky to be working alongside her.  If you would like to find out...

What an authentic episode. Fi chats with Vickie Pullin who qualified for the Olympics in Snowboard Cross when she was 18 and now races sled dogs at the elite level.  We talk a lot about funding in sport and how athletes are performing at incredible levels. We talk about the sled dogs and the complexity of training herself and her dogs and fitting it all into a busy life managing her own business a...

In this brilliant episode, Claire shares her wealth of knowledge surrounding fuelling young athletes.  One of the key messages is the importance of meeting energy needs and getting nutrition requirements from food before supplements. There are many tips on what young athletes can do to help themselves prepare quick and easy snacks and meals. We also touch on nutrition myths and how to unpick facts...

In this episode, we talk about Jess's dream of becoming an Olympic athlete and her journey from heptathlon to 100m hurdles, representing Team GB and her plans for the future including going to Birmingham University and continuing to work closely with her wonderful coach. If you would like to find out more please visit www.cassandfriends.org Instagram @cassandfriends

In this episode, Dan talks about his junior days as an elite-level swimmer, attending two Olympic trials and going to an American University on a scholarship programme.  We touch on his mindset and motivation as an individual swimmer versus swimming for his university team.  Finally, we talk about how Dan has made a very successful business out of his love for swimming and triathlon and now helps...

In this episode, Nikki brings her zest for life and talks about how she absolutely loves her career as a professional athlete.  She gives so many golden nuggets of advice to our young athletes from getting the balance right with sport and life, finding out what is important and what makes you happy, how to handle bad training sessions or races, handling injuries and setbacks, managing social media...

In this episode, Tom and Fi chat with middle-distance runner Kaitlyn Sheppard who joined CASS & Friends in 2019.  She is now studying and training in the USA at Bradley University. She talks about her experience of transferring to an American university, the ups and downs of the transition and how she loves life and training in the USA. There are many learning points for any of our athletes co...

In this episode, Laura shares her passion for helping young athletes, especially females, how she believes finding an identity outside being an athlete is important, her many tips for developing a strong sporting mindset and how good communication with a coach is key to successful performance.   If you would like to find out more please visit www.cassandfriends.org Instagram @cassandfriends

In this episode Tom, an alumni athelte and Fi the founder, chat about CASS & Friends; how and when it was started, what need it set out to address and what makes this charity different from other sports clubs/charities.  If you would like to find out more please visit www.cassandfriends.org Instagram @cassandfriends