Not by the Playbook

Please note: This episode contains discussions and references to mental health and drug abuse. If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide: www.befrienders.org For 10 years, quarterback Erik Kramer had it all - fame, fort...

In March 2024 Camille Heron cemented her place as the greatest Ultra Marathon runner of all time. She broke the six day world best, clocking an astonishing 560 miles. That's further than running from New York to Washington and back in 6 days, roughly the distance of Accra to Lagos and back in SIX DAYS!! She's been telling Sportshour's Nishat Ladha about her achievement. As Cambridge and Oxford lin...

Rikke Sevecke was living the dream! She'd fought the odds to make it into professional football despite all the barriers in her way. She'd played in England for Everton and represented her country, Denmark at the World Cup, and had just signed for one of the biggest teams in America. Living the dream. Then just two months ago in January 2024, out of nowhere, she was ordered to stop playing, immedi...

Sport, racism and protests are about to change the lives of “the Black 14” American footballers. It’s 1969 in the United States. They’ve arrived on scholarships at the University of Wyoming to play for its Cowboys American football team. It was a predominantly white college. The team is treated like a second religion. Then, the players make a decision to take a stand against racism in a game again...

Rikke Sevecke was living the dream! She'd fought the odds to make it into professional football despite all the barriers in her way. She'd played in England for Everton and represented her country, Denmark at the World Cup, and had just signed for one of the biggest teams in America. Living the dream. Then just two months ago in January 2024, out of nowhere, she was ordered to stop playing, immedi...

Racing Louisville FC defender Carson Pickett was born without part of her left arm and Pickett went viral in 2019 after she was pictured giving an arm-bump with a young fan who was also missing part of his left arm. In 2022, Carson Pickett became the first player with a limb difference to play for the United States women's team and she told BBC Sportshour's Caroline Barker how her life has changed...

Some say that golf is "a good walk ruined", for others the sport is where they go to escape. For Patrick Koenig it became a quest to discover more about himself, the sport and the country he lives in. He tells Sportshour's Caroline Barker what he learned as he broke the record for most number of 18 hole golf courses played in one year. Ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix we look at the future of...

Back in September, just days before she was due to give birth Sportshour's Shabnam Younus-Jewell spoke to one of the current triathlon team Olympic Champions, Jess Learmonth. She spoke about her concerns and hopes about becoming a first time mum and balancing her new responsibilities with a desire to defend the title she won in Tokyo by making Team GB and competing in Paris in just 4 months time....

Caroline Barker speaks to the first women of colour crew members to race around Cape Horn. Vuyisile Jaca from South Africa, Junella King from Antigua and Maryama Seck from France made history while taking part in the Ocean Globe Race on the iconic yacht, Maiden. We also hear from Tracy Edwards MBE, who skippered the first ever all female crew to round the horn 35 years ago on the same vessel Could...

Tobey Berriault took up speed skating in her teenage years, spending many hours training at the famous Olympic Oval in Calgary. After just missing out on qualifying for her home Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010, she took up a new career as a peacekeeper for the United Nations. She tells Sportshour what her role entails and how she's used her sporting career to help her in conflict areas and wa...

Game day has arrived, so join Caroline Barker and former Buffalo Bills coach Phoebe Schecter for the complete guide to Super Bowl 58. Who to look out for, how the game will be won and if history will repeat itself as Kansas City look to defend their title against the San Francisco 49ers? Plus an exclusive interview with SpongeBob Square Pants best mate Patrick Star as they prepare to give an alter...

Some claim that the romance between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce has been manufactured by the NFL for political gain, and whilst that is clearly nonsense we look at the impact of Swift's relationship with the NFL. Shaquem Griffin was born with amniotic band syndrome causing the fingers on his left hand not to fully develop. The pain was so intense that at 4 years of age he grabbed a butcher knife...

Alex Gold and Cody Tapp from KCSP 610 Sports Radio in Kansas join Caroline Barker to discuss the hopes of the reigning Super Bowl champions, and if they can become the first team in twenty-years to win back-to-back? Plus could Patrick Mahomes win something not even Tom Brady has? The man behind the push to get Flag Football to the Olympics tells us that he expects Patrick Mahomes to be at the fron...

We look into the San Francisco 49ers as they attempt to stop the reigning champions Kansas from back to back Super Bowls. Caroline Barker is joined by CBS’s Gianna Marie Franco. Next to her is KNBR’s Greg Papa who gives us a demonstration of the call he hopes to make as he commentates on his side on Sunday. We’ll also analyse the strengths of quarterback Brock Purdy as he attempts to go from Zero...

The Super Bowl is in Las Vegas. The greatest show on turf, but everyone is talking about the story off the field - Taylor Swift’s romance with Kansas Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce has dominated the headlines. Even the commissioner of the NFL Roger Goodell was asked about a conspiracy theory that the NFL has scripted the romance between Taylor and Travis. Sportshour's Caroline Barker explores the p...

Betty Brussel from Canada has broken the 100-104-year-old age class world record in the 400m freestyle, knocking nearly four minutes off the previous standard, and then repeated her record-breaking performances in 50m backstroke and the 50m breaststroke that same day. Caroline Barker speaks to the 99-year-old swimmer who is proving age is no barrier to sporting success. We hear from the charity ca...

Former Premier League footballer George Elokobi is the first Cameroonian to manager an English football club. On Saturday 27th January, he will take charge as Maidstone United face second tier Ipswich Town in the fourth round of the FA Cup. George chats about his managerial ambitions as well as tough upbringing in Cameroon. On Sunday 28th January, it will be International Lego Day. It was on that...

Please note: This programme contains discussions about mental health. If you are suffering distress or despair and need support, you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers support. Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide. www.befrienders.org The co-founder of campaigning charity Black Trail Runners, Sabrina Pace-Humphreys tell...

Indian tennis great Leander Paes joins us to reflect on his glittering career ahead of his induction into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Paes tells us he gave up on his dreams of making it as a footballer with FC Barcelona, when a coach told him he would need to relinquish his Indian passport in favour of a European one, in order to progress in the sport. He also reflects on his early stru...

Erin Holcomb from the Portland Rescue Mission tells Caroline Barker how a pair of anonymously donated retro Nike Air Jordan 3s led to a $50,000 windfall for the charity. The gold and red sneakers were one of only five pairs made for film director Spike Lee, who wore a pair when collecting his Oscar for the movie BlacKkKlansman. The shoes sold at auction for more than double the original estimate o...

We look back on some of the most inspiring and moving stories we've brought you this past year. Hear baseball commentator Jerry Schemmel’s story of survival, loss and heroism after he was on board a deadly plane crash. Plus, Carter Crosland the American football coach born without arms or legs. Image: Members of the New England Patriots celebrate with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after defeating the...

We hear from some of the athletes that have made 2023 such an exciting and successful year for women’s sport. We’ll hear from the stars of the football and netball world cups and with the Olympics on the horizon we hear from those women posed to make their mark in the next 12 months. Image: Karla Pretorius (Vice Captain) of South Africa and Phillipa Yarranton of Wales during the Netball World Cup...

Boston defender Sophie Jaques and the founder of Black Girl Hockey Club, Renee Hess, tell us how they fell in love with ice hockey and how they’re working to make the sport more inclusive. Hess founded the organisation after discovering the sport as a fan but noticing there weren't many people who looked like her in the crowd. Jaques is now a board member of Black Girl Hockey Club and says she tak...

Former Eagles player Connor Barwin discusses producing ‘A Philly Special Christmas Special’ – the latest charity record released by players from the NFL’s Philadelphia Eagles and special guests. Barwin tells us the late Shane McGowan endorsed the Kelce brothers reworking of Fairytale of New York and that he’ll do all he can to get Taylor Swift to feature on their next album. Dorna Longbut tells us...

New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman discusses how he’s raising awareness of homelessness through his annual Sleep Out in aid of Covenant House, an organisation that helps young homeless people. Cashman says the issue is getting worse and he chats about some of the charity’s success stories. Lopez Sanusi tells us about his dreams of making it in the NFL and winning multiple Super Bowls a...