SportSpiel

Alasdair Hooper hosts the third episode of The Women's Football Diary with former Wolfsburg, PSG and FC Rosengard forward Ella Masar. Masar is currently on one of the biggest journeys of her life right now as she currently gets to grips with being a mum for the very first time alongside her partner, Real Madrid defender Babett Peter. Their son was born earlier in September and, just as with any ne...

Alasdair Hooper hosts the second episode of The Women's Football Diary with Reading and former Chelsea defender Deanna Cooper. In the podcast, Cooper reflects on her journey in football from being a 'nobody' in football to becoming the surprise package of the WSL Spring Series for Chelsea. But after that high came a devastating ACL injury which ruled her out for a majority of the following season...

Alasdair Hooper hosts the first episode of The Women's Football Diary with Wales' record goalscorer Helen Ward . In an open conversation the Watford captain tells us about her career, including the biggest challenge of them all - motherhood. The 34-year-old is a mum of two and also explains just how tough it was to get back to playing after becoming a mum in the first place. Ward also tells us abo...

Will Moulton hosts this latest episode of SportSpiel with Scotland Rugby stars Rhona Lloyd and Sarah Bonar. Alongside their exploits in rugby the duo are also known for hosting the Women Who Sport podcast, designed to raise the platform and showcase the journeys of talented women in sport. In this episode the pair take us through their sport and what makes it truly inclusive for everyone regardles...

Open water swimmer Alice Dearing is often asked the same questions about being the black swimmer from Britain.   According to figures from Sport England, 95% of black adults and 80% of black children in England do not swim. Meanwhile just 1% of registered competitive swimmers with Swim England identify as black or mixed race.   Those numbers mean that 23-year-old Alice has essentially become the p...

When you ask Livvy Breen what her biggest challenge has been the answer is almost like a reflex - Rio 2016   Going into those Paralympic Games, Livvy was one of the breakout stars to watch but things didn’t exactly go to plan.   Yet from that lowest low came her highest high. The Rio experience led to her changing coach, changing her training location and essentially changing her life. 10 months l...

This weekend's episode of SportSpiel is a little bit different - but arguably one of our most important shows. On July 10 we hosted a live panel organised by our wonderful charity partners The Mintridge Foundation as part of their 28NotOut campaign – all about Mental Health and sport. The event was held to raise money for the Max Hunter fund , and Max was a hugely important person to a lot of peop...

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton host this special episode with former cricketer Patrick Foster as part of The Mintridge Foundation’s #28NotOut – raising money for the Max Hunter Fund . This is one of the most eye-opening and honest accounts we have ever hosted on this podcast as Patrick takes us through his journey with a severe gambling addiction. It’s an addiction that has plagued his life for...

Katie Taylor needs no introduction to sports fans.    The two-weight World Champion is a boxing pioneer, transcends her sport in ways few can match and has inspired thousands of people.   One of those thousands was a 16-year-old Shamrock Rovers footballer who dreamt of playing for Arsenal - Gráinne Walsh.   After meeting Taylor, the now 24-year-old was inspired to take up the sport and, just four...

Depression, anxiety, stress and self-doubt – these are just some of your mind’s monsters. It’s something Hazel Gale is all too familiar with, having been plagued by her doubting voice during her boxing and kickboxing career. The voice is one thing, but it’s the impact it has on the rest of the body that proved to be her undoing. Hazel was petrified of looking weak and that fear took over. It resul...

Will Moulton hosts this SportSpiel feature interview with England cricketers - and best friends - Alex Hartley and Kate Cross . Together Alex and Kate host the No Balls podcast and they give us an insight into how their popular podcast came about. We also hear the origins of some of the more unique features of their show - such as the ever-popular relationship advice. Their friendship may be best...

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton host the 100th episode of SportSpiel. To mark the occasion this edition of the podcast is a special compilation show made up of six interviews that had an impact on us and on our listeners. They are interviews where we learned something for the first time, where we were taught how to battle back in the face of adversity and how the word 'no' doesn't have to mean 'n...

Alasdair Hooper hosts this SportSpiel feature interview with Middlesex and Scotland cricketer Olivia Rae . Life in coronavirus lockdown has had an impact on everyone, but what happens when you’ve put so much effort towards achieving your dream of playing your sport professionally and then this happens? On this edition of the podcast, Olivia takes us through exactly that. After working so hard towa...

Will Moulton hosts this SportSpiel feature interview with former British athlete Jenny Meadows . In the first episode recorded since the UK-wide lockdown was imposed the World and European 800m medalist tells all about life right now in these unprecedented times. But the Olympian also takes us through her role with social enterprise Totally Runable. Together with fellow Olympian Emily Freeman, Jen...

Alasdair Hooper hosts this SportSpiel feature interview with basketball player, poet and campaigner Asma Elbadawi . From a very young age, Asma has always been someone to highlight any inequalities she saw. As it says in her Twitter bio, reframing stereotypes is part of who she is. To many people she is the person who successfully campaigned for the International Basketball Federation to allow the...

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton are joined by GB sailor Eilidh McIntyre for their live show at SuperPod 2020 in Southampton. During their chat Eilidh opens up all about her career and partnership with Hannah Mills, as the 25-year-old prepares to make her Olympic debut in Tokyo. But there's also a great deal of reflection on the pain that came before that, namely missing out on Rio 2016. That is s...

Will Moulton hosts the latest SportSpiel feature interview with Middlesex County Cricket batsman Stevie Eskinazi . For Mintridge Foundation ambassador Stevie, one thing that has proved vital in his career is momentum. It was key when Middlesex won the 2016 County Championship and it also played a part when they got relegated a year later, although a crossbow arrow also played its part.  In his con...

Alasdair Hooper presents the latest SportSpiel feature interview with Welsh Olympic Trap shooter Georgina Roberts. The 22-year-old is very much an athlete who knows what she wants.   She wants to change the state of play, take her sport to new levels and rewrite age-old gender-based stereotypes.   For some people shooting is considered a dangerous activity – not even a sport in some people’s eyes...

Isle of Man gymnast Grace Harrison had a well-thought-out plan after her historic achievements at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.    But that plan didn’t pan out as expected. Instead it ended in retirement at the age of 23.   In 2014, Harrison became the first Manx female gymnast to make it to a Commonwealth Games final at the age of 19.   Following that piece of history, she immediately targ...

Will Moulton presents the first SportSpiel feature interview of 2020 with Olympic bronze medalist Marilyn Okoro and GB T44 Sprinter and Paracanoe athlete Laura Sugar. In this episode The Mintridge Foundation ambassadors and athletes talk about their ambitions to represent Team GB in Tokyo this summer. In our chat Laura explains her transition from hockey to athletics and then to canoeing as a chan...

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton are joined by talkSPORT's Jackson Cole and Love Sport Radio's Kieran Wellington for SportSpiel's Review of the Year 2019. On the last episode of 2019 the panel review the year in sport while dishing out awards in eight important categories. In doing so they look to celebrate outstanding sporting moments, inspirational characters and the athletes that gave us gooseb...

Will Moulton presents this SportSpiel feature interview with rising British Taekwondo star Rebecca McGowan. There has been a consistent stream of talent coming through the ranks of the sport in the UK - names such as Jade Jones, Bianca Walkden and Lutalo Muhammad are just three of them.  But one person who is well on her way to making a name for herself is the Scottish-born teenager Rebecca.  In t...

Team GB trampolinist Laura Gallagher presents a special SportSpiel episode as she interviews her teammates Bryony Page, Kat Driscoll and Izzy Songhurst. On this edition of the show Laura helps to give us a valuable insight into the team ahead of the 2019 Trampoline World Championships, which run from November 28 to December 21 in Tokyo.  In part one (3:07) Laura chats with Kat Driscoll - a legend...

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton present SportSpiel’s November discussion episode. On this edition of the show they go through and pick apart some of the biggest talking points in sport. In part one (5:02) the pair look at the inaugural Women's Football Weekend and what impact it will have long term.  With a huge effort to get the game in people's faces they ask what we can learn from this first e...

There's been no shortage of shocks in Dartford, home of the London City Lionesses.   The brand-new FA Women’s Championship side are currently second in the league – with five wins in seven games. According to their team captain Ellie Mason, things are looking very positive.   The club was created after the decision, at the end of last season, by Millwall Lionesses to break away from Millwall and g...