The Sideline Live Podcast

Follow Holly here https://www.instagram.com/hdhollydavis/ Follow The Sideline Live Social Media channels and the host Orla here:  https://linktr.ee/TheSidelineLive Recorded using Samson Q2 microphone, Edited using GarageBand Intro music, Watered Eyes by a talented Irish artist, Dillon Ward check him out ⁠⁠here⁠⁠ .  If you are looking to set up your own podcast get in touch with the Prymal Producti...

On episode 213 I am delighted to be joined by athletic development pioneer Vern Gambetta. He is widely regarded as the founding father of functional sports training. He is a lecturer, coach, speaker, author. He is the founder of GAIN, a leader in multi-sport coaches education.  Take a look at his full bio below 🤯  We discuss all things coaching, elite performers, Michael Jordan, what separates th...

On episode 212 I am delighted to be joined by Irish and UCONN hepathlete Diarmuid O’Connor. He is Ireland’s leading multi event men's athlete currently in his final year at UCONN.   We recorded court side at Gampbell Pavillion on campus to discuss his career, his journey to the states, life as a multi-eventer, training at home vs USA, UCONN, injuries, potential and Katie Taylor. Take a look at...

On episode 211 I am delighted to be joined by Irish sprinting coach Gerard O’Donnell. Gerard is head coach at Dublin sprint where he trains elite athletes including Sophie Becker and Jack Rafferty, and national relay coach for all of the national squads.  Gerard is also a national champion himself competing in the hurdles however is focusing on coaching and is a full time athletics coach.  We disc...

On episode 210 I am delighted to welcome back sports psychologist and co host of the high performance podcast Damian Hughes. Damian and I spoke 4 years ago and upon the release of his new book MicroHabits we decided it would be an ideal time to record another episode. We review our conversation 4 years ago, high performance vs world class, the cost or shadow side of elite sport, the all in mindset...

On episode #209 I am delighted to be joined by Texas Freshman and Irish sprinting sensation Conor Kelly who has cemented himself as one of Ireland’s brightest talents. This episode was recorded in November in Austin Texas where Conor recently began his college career as a Texas Longhorn.  We discuss his career as a spinner, his recent move to Austin Texas following in the footsteps of Rshadiat Ade...

On episode 208 I am delighted to be joined by world renowned coach and Director of Sports Performance for UConn Women’s Basketball, Andrea Hudy otherwise known as Coach Hudy.  Hudy holds an MBA, PhD and has contributed to 10 national championships during her career as a strength coach. A proud UConn alumna, she earned her master’s degree in sport biomechanics in 1999 and previously served the Husk...

On episode 207 I am delighted to be joined by Cuala Director of Coaching Mark Brennan. Mark is originally from Carlow and was a dual player for his native county. He has since turned his hand to coaching and was involved in the rise of the Meath senior ladies football team where they would win back to back all Ireland’s in 2021 and 2022. Mark also worked as a GPO in clubs across Dublin.  We discus...

On episode 206 I am joined by Sligo senior footballer Luke Towey. Luke also spent 2 seasons in Australia playing AFL and is an entrepreneur. He previously set up a portable sauna in the west of Ireland and has now created The Performance Journal. A Simple & No Bullsh*t journal to help track Goals & Sessions. We discuss journalling & performance, what it takes to be at the top of his ga...

On episode 205 I am delighted to be joined by Junior World Swimming Champion John Shortt. Originally from Galway his first sport was rugby however he realised as a teenager his real potential lay in Swimming. He spent TY commuting to UL to the National Swimming programme and decided to move to Limerick in 5th year to be closer to his training facility. John made history this summer with a breakthr...

On this episode 204 I am delighted to be joined by Texas Women's head basketball coach Vic Schafer. This episode was recorded in person from coach Schafer's office on campus in November 2025. We discuss his coaching philosophy, reason for coaching, how recruiting has changed, the attributes he looks for in his players & coaching staff and more. Listen to Grace Prenter's episode here https://op...

On episode 203 I am delighted to be joined by one of Australia's best ever Aussie Rules coaches Alan McConnell. We discuss coaching, attributes of elite coaches, leadership, captains and more. We also discuss AFLW and the influx in Irish players. Alan was the mastermind behind Cora Staunton's move to Australia and also signed Brid Stack. Two athletes that made a remarkable effect not only on the t...

On this episode 202, I am joined by golf podcaster Jonny Mac Cann for a deep and dynamic State of the Game golf edition. The aim was to keep the conversation to 40 minutes which we failed at miserably as the 2025 golf season was packed with history and headlines.  In a wide-ranging episode we discuss golf media, Irish women’s golf, Lauren Walsh , rising stars in the game, and that masters win by R...

On episode 201 I am delighted to be joined by Adam Harrington.  Adam is an NBA shooting coach and player development specialist, widely regarded as one of the leading shooting minds in the game.  Adam was a High School All-American. Following high school he played at NC State and would later transfer to Auburn University. While he went undrafted he would sign a summer league contract with the Clev...

On episode 200 I am delighted to be joined by UCONN Husky Gandy Malou-Mamel.  Gandy and I first spoke a few years ago when she made history becoming the first ever Irish player to sign for the UCONN Huskies. Check out episode 120 for that first chat.  This time we catch up on campus and discuss her journey since then. How she has settled in, life on campus, being a husky, making her debut and more...

On episode 199 I am delighted to be joined by Grace Prenter, freshman at the University of Texas.  One of the most exciting young talents to emerge from the island of Ireland Grace is grew up playing in south Dublin. She took to many sports including basketball at Meteors, Gaelic football in Kilmacud Crokes and athletics with Dundrum South Dublin athletics club.  However basketball took over as sh...

On episode 198 I am delighted to be joined by Host on Sirius XM NBA Radio and contributor Brian Geltzeiler. Brian also works in finance full time and developed his media career from setting up his own blog, Hoopscritic. He would share articles online tagging those he mentioned on X and grew his following and name as an NBA contributor. He has worked as a contributor across multiple platforms inclu...

On episode 197 I am delighted to be joined by Oklahoma Sooners forward Emma Tolan. Emma rejoins the podcast following her first interview on episode 175 following her announcement to join the Sooners on scholarship. She is one of the many Irish girls putting Irish basketball on the world map and one of two Irish players in the SEC this season. If you haven't listened to that episode go back an...

On episode 196 I am joined by St. Leo Guard and Irish international Amy Duggan.  Amy is originally from Cobh in Cork where she grew up playing basketball and camogie locally. She dreamed of playing college basketball in the states and following in fellow cork woman Edel Thornton’s footsteps.  Amy developed her skills in the gym with extra individual practice sessions outside of her club team in Co...

On episode 195 I am delighted to be joined by Caldwell University guard Lucy Coogan. An underage star in Ireland Lucy worked on her game for close to 10,000 hours across sports halls in Kilkenny to get a chance at playing college basketball in the United States. However it nearly didn't happen. She would spend hours emailing coaches from her sitting room in Kilkenny and working on her game. Fo...

On episode 194 I am delighted to be joined by Quinnipiac University point guard Maria Kealy. Maria shares her basketball journey from growing in Donegal, playing basketball with her family, to winning AICCs with Letterkenny Blaze and training early before school at Loreto Letterkenny.  Despite an early set back Kealy had a successful underage international career playing on multiple Irish squads,...

On episode 193 I am delighted to welcome back Ian Reeves.  Ian is Head of Wellbeing for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL. He is also a high-performance coach and founder of his own performance-consulting business ACE (Align • Conquer • Elevate). Ian’s journey has spanned continents and performance contexts from amateur players with the GPA, to professional at South Sydney and corporate enviro...

On episode 192 I am delighted to be joined by former world class sailor and olympic medalist Annalise Murphy. Annaliese is an Olympic silver medalist, a triple olympian, an Irish sailing legend, MBA, Corporate speaker, grand marshal of the Dublin St Patrick's Day parade 2017, fellow podcast host, future and even had a plane named after her. We discuss her career, pursuing sport and following y...

On episode 191 I am delighted to be joined by Irish basketball Hall of famer and Demons legend Tim McCarthy. He is also well known as the RTÉ Olympic basketball lead commentator Tim is a former CEO, Business Strategist, C Suite coach Communication Coach, Leadership Consultant & Key Note Speaker. We discuss his career, how an injury nearly derailed him, the golden era and the best american he&#...

On episode 190 I am joined by Patrick O’Neill, Suzanne Maguire and Niamh Dwyer  to preview the upcoming Women’d Superleague Basketball season for 25/26.  This state of the game episode not only previews the 25/26 season as we also discuss the headline stories across Irish women’s basketball including underage talent, Irish developed players pursuing contracts in Europe, insights on picking America...