The Athlete Development Show

Dr John Radnor works in Wales at Cardiff Metropolitan University where he is a Lecturer in Strength and Conditioning, the Programme Lead for their Masters in Youth Athletic Development, and the Research and Innovation Lead for their Youth Physical Development Centre. In 2023, John was awarded the Youth Strength and Conditioning Coach of the year award from the UKSCA. Over his 15 years as a coach,...

Dr Suzanne Brown is a Clinical Psychologist and Emotional Fitness Consultant . With over 15 years of experience, including time as Lead Psychologist for Sunderland Football Club in the UK, she has pioneered a new way of working that bridges clinical psychology with elite performance. Suzanne studied at the University of Birmingham, earning her undergrad and Master's degrees with top honours,...

Dr John Alder ( @JohnAlderWRU ) is a development practitioner whose life mission is to help individuals, teams, and organisations flourish while promoting culture-driven leadership. He has worked with Professional, Olympic, and Paralympic sports on and across six continents, throughout the pathway, from regional development through to a World Cup and Olympic Games. John is currently the Head of Pl...

Dr Ffion Thompson is a post-doctoral researcher in youth athletic development at Leeds Beckett University in the UK, where she is module lead on the science of sport performance course, as well as a leader within the Centre of Child and Adolescent Physical Literacy. Ffion also serves as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach at Queen Ethelburga’s School, Pathway Strength and Conditioning Coach at Le...

On the show today, I’m speaking with Regional Coach Development Manager at New Zealand Cricket, Christian Thurston .  In this conversation, Christian shares his story of successfully transitioning from a professional opera singer into coach development. Enjoy! Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter Get Craig to speak at your club or school...

On the show today, I’m speaking with Health and Physical Education Lecturer at Federation University in Victoria, Australia, Dr Riki Lindsay . Riki has a PhD in Human Movement Science from Victoria University, a Master’s degree in Sport and Exercise Science from Auckland University of Technology and he is currently working towards a second Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology.   In this conversa...

On the show today, I’m speaking with researcher and founder of the Atua Matua framework, Dr Ihirangi Heke . Ihi builds health, wellness and performance practices based on traditional environmental knowledge.  In this conversation, Ihi and I discuss the good ol’ days of PE school in Dunedin and the changes that have taken place since. Ihi shares some of his early experiences growing up in the great...

On the Show today I'm speaking with  Head of Performance Pathways Science at the National Youth Sports Institute in Singapore, Dr Matthew Wylde . Matthew has been within the Singapore high performance system for over 15 years, having held roles with the Singapore Sport Institute, Singapore Sports School and now with the National Youth Sports Institute. He holds a PhD from Bournemouth Universi...

On the Show today I'm speaking with the man behind the Crusaders Rugby Academy, Aaron Webb. The programme operates in line with the New Zealand Rugby Union's six pillars of development - technical, tactical, physical, nutrition, mental skills and holistic life skills. Aaron shares how he goes about his work with a clear focus on developing young men with the skills to reach their goals i...

Brian Shelley is Head of Football at Saint Kentigern College in Auckland where he coaches at the premier level and oversees the development pathways. He earned his UEFA A License with the English FA. Prior to his coaching career, Brain played professional football in the UK where he competed for clubs in both the UEFA Cup and Champions League.  In this conversation we discuss school versus club fo...

Head of coaching at Birkenhead United FC in Auckland, New Zealand and Co-founder of Player Development Project , Dave Wright ( @davewright07 ), rejoins me for another episode of The Curious Mind. We discuss our experiences in youth sport over the past couple of months, including using street football as a development tool and why Dave loves it as a format, accounting for skill variability in our a...

Tim Brazier ( @coach_brazier ) has been coaching in high performance sport for over 15 years. After earning a Master's degree from the University of Otago, Tim took up a lecturing role at Otago Polytechnic for two years.  He went on to coach at Triathlon New Zealand for 7 years and attended two Olympic Games. Tim now coaches at Fitter , a New Zealand based triathlon coaching business offering...

This is a rebroadcast of episode 162 of Athletes Authority ON AIR podcast, featuring Dr Craig Harrison. "Craig gives us a breakdown of his coaching background, why he chose to work in the youth space over other areas of physical development, how his diverse background set him up for success, how he implements mental skills or the "unseen" side of training into his programming, how e...

Jordi Taylor ( @coach_jorditaylor ) is a Senior Strength and Conditioning Coach at Athletes Authority, a strength and conditioning gym for athletes in Sydney and Melbourne, in Australia. Jordi also heads up Media & Partnerships at Athlete Authority and hosts their ON AIR Podcast. In this conversation, Jordi takes us inside Athletes Authority's Emerging Athlete Programme , a service specif...

Head of coaching at Birkenhead United FC in Auckland, New Zealand and Co-founder of Player Development Project , Dave Wright ( @davewright07 ), rejoins me for another episode of The Curious Mind. We discuss our experiences in youth sport over the past couple of months, including how Dave goes about creating team culture, the pros and cons of tournament play, the essential ingredients in coach deve...

Dr Sarah Chantler is a registered dietician and performance nutritionist. Originally from South Africa, Sarah is now based at Leeds Beckett University in the UK where she is a senior lecturer and applied practitioner. Sarah's fascinating work highlights why we should prioritise teaching food skills over food knowledge to the adolescent athlete. We dig into this idea during the episode and Sar...

"Grass was a luxury, if you saw grass, you'd go and roll in it." My conversation today is with Royston Dsouza. Hailing from India, where he spend much of his childhood playing football on the streets of Mumbai, Royston is now based in Auckland, Aotearoa, where he works as a movement skill coach and as a football coach.  Royston played top level club football in India for five years...

This conversation is with Austin Einhorn and Dr Jeff Moreno , recorded live in Santa Cruz, California. Enjoy! Sign up for Craig's newsletter (Beyond the Game) at athletedevelopmentproject.com/newsletter Get Craig to speak at your club or school here .  Connect with Craig: Instagram: instagram.com/drcraigharrison/ Facebook: facebook.com/drcraigharrison Twitter: twitter.com/drcraigharrison Supp...

On the show this week, I'm speaking with Pathways Manager and A-League Women's Assistant Coach at Melbourne Victory Football Club, Gareth Turnbull . Gareth has been full time in football since 2008, beginning his career as a Football Development Manager for Coastal Spirit Football Club in Christchurch, and moving on to New Zealand Football where he served as the High Performance Athlete...

It's an absolute pleasure to bring Golf New Zealand's National Coach, Jay Carter, on the show. Jay and I met not long ago when he reached out to ask me on his fantastic podcast, Talking Performance. We had a great conversation and barely scratched the surface on some topics I wanted to talk more about. So, here we are. While Jay and I spend our days in different sports and with athletes...

Head of coaching at Birkenhead United FC in Auckland, New Zealand and Co-founder of Player Development Project , Dave Wright ( @davewright07 ), rejoins me for another episode of The Curious Mind. We discuss our experiences in youth sport over the past couple of months, including a recent trip Dave took to Tonga and what he learnt from it, the importance of joy and how to find it, and the continued...

"Fun is a fleeting moment. Joy is something that's enduring, something that brings you back." Mike Hester works for New Zealand Rugby and is responsible for leading their approach to the evolution of the game at participation level. Prior to this role, Mike spent 28 years at the New Zealand Defence Force where he worked as a Career and Talent Manager. Mike is also a former FIFA refe...

Dane Baker is a Performance Dietitian who has worked extensively with New Zealand's elite athletes and organisations over the past 15 years, including the Chiefs, Blues, Black Ferns 7s, NZ Hockey and NZ Swimming.  He was also the NZ team dietitian for the Rio Olympics and Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Dane is an active researcher in the field of RED-s, a lecturer at the University of Otago a...

We all have times in our lives that change us. Watershed moments that force us into thinking differently. Kylie Cox had one of these very moments a few years ago while training for an Ironman World 70.3 Age Group Championship. Despite continuing to perform in training, a number a life stressors coincided with a heavy training load. She became concerned about how her health might impact her menstru...

My conversation this week is with Mark Upton and Ken Willner. Mark is passionate about supporting people's WayFinding endeavours by facilitating the emergence of new connections, new capacities, and meaningful stories and refections as we journey together. He has a particular interest in helping people find their way in sport. You can find Mark's work @ myfastestmile.com Ken Willner is a...