The Sports Coaching Hub Podcast

Join Mike as he chats to Stephen Macdonald, Conference Chair for CRiC 2026 at Stirling University. During the episode, Stephen reflects on his experiences of bidding to host the Conference, the excitement and challenges of pulling it all together, and shares some highlights and reflections of the week. Find out more about Stephen and his work here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenmacdonaldcoach...

In this episode, Dr Ian Stonebridge (Plymouth Marjon University) looks back at his journey from professional football into academia. He gave us an insight into his PhD, including how coaches negotiate their identities over time, shaped by personal experiences and professional challenges.  Ian Stonebridge: https://www.marjon.ac.uk/about-marjon/staff-list-and-profiles/stonebridge-ian.html CRiC websi...

In this episode, Dr Andy Newland (Liverpool John Moores University) shares insights from his research on the complexities of the coach–athlete relationship. He explains how his personal biography influenced his PhD and discusses key findings from his research and their practical implications. Enjoy! Andy Newland: https://profiles.ljmu.ac.uk/15340-dr-andrew-newland CRiC website: https://cricsportco...

In the 4th episode of this CRiC bitesize series Mike welcomed Clare Freeman. She spoke about the use of creative non-fiction to bring coaches’ experiences to life. They wrapped the episode by looking at Clare's experiences within the CRiC community. Enjoy!

In this episode, Mike interviewed Jack Walton, PhD student at Loughborough University. They chat about his work as a coach educator and his fascinating insights into coach learning and development.  Enjoy! CRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/

In this CRiC 2026 Bitesize episode, we interview Dr Sanna Erdoğan (University of Lapland. Sanna talks about the work she presented at the conference, explores its implications for practice, and shares her experiences of the CRiC community, including the recent writing retreat. Thanks for listening! CRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/

In the first CRiC 2026 Bitesize episode, we welcomed former Cardiff Met student Stan Safe. Presenting at his first academic conference, Stan shared the findings of his undergraduate dissertation, explored their implications for practice, and reflected on his experience within the CRiC community. Enjoy! CRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/

We’re back for Season 9—and we’re hitting the road once again! In this first episode, we’re delighted to continue our partnership with the Cluster for Research into Coaching (CRiC). This season we’ll be releasing a series of special episodes straight from the event. Kicking things off, we sat down in the studio with Dr. Sofia Santos and Dr. Gethin Thomas (Cardiff Metropolitan University). They sha...

In this final episode of Season 8, Jen Larrick and Kerry Harris joined Mike to discuss their recent paper, 'Developing a hooks-informed feminist coaching pedagogy'.  During the episode, they discussed the challenges of patriarchal norms in sport coaching and how Jen took an action-research approach to her practice. The key findings were also shared, including overcoming tokenistic partic...

During this episode, Dean Holden shares his Doctoral research from Cardiff Metropolitan University's Doctorate in Sport Coaching (DSC) programme. 'Wandering Whistles', Dean's thesis, shares his lived experiences and learnings as a nomadic, travelling coach working across cultures in ice-hockey. During the episode, Dean, Mike, and Oli discuss the idea of the nomadic coach, Dean&...

During this episode, Matt Watson and Tom Leeder discussed their recent paper which explores the development experiences of Esports coaches with Mike. Matt and Tom's work, supported by colleagues Sylvain Laborde and Michael Trotter, explores the perceptions of a diverse group of Esports stakeholders' perceptions of coach development.  Together, they discussed the valorisation of playing e...

We welcome back to the pod two repeating guests: Dr Charlie Corsby and (soon-to-be-Dr) Elliot Doyle. During this episode, they presented their recently published paper, 'Living With Injury: A Phenomenology of Sport Injury Rehabilitation'. Enjoy! Link to article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1357034X251413522 Follow us on our social media: https://linktr.ee/sportscoachinghub 

Season 8 continues with some valuable insights from Ellen Jones and Dr Lea-Cathrin Dohme In this episode, Mike speaks to Ellen and Lea about their recent work with mother-coaches. Together, they highlight the structural challenges that coaching poses to mother-coaches working in tennis. The conversation sheds light on the methodological choices behind using composite vignettes and Joan Acker'...

We are back with season 8!  In this episode, we head back to the Sport Wales Coach Developer Programme as Mike sits down with Callum Digby, Donal O’Halloran, and Stephanie Bradley. All four took part in the newly launched programme— a partnership between Cardiff Metropolitan University and Sport Wales — and share some of their reflections, journeys, key learnings, and takeaways. Enjoy the episode!...

To celebrate the release of 50 episodes, Mike, Oli, and Manuel got together for a roundup episode. They looked back at the first steps of the podcast, shared their personal highlights, and discussed what's next for the podcast.  As per usual, please contact us via email (coachinghub@cardiffmet.ac.uk) or Twitter/X (@TheCoaching_Hub) with suggestions. Follow us on our social media: https://link...

This episode, we welcomed back to the pod one of our favorite guests: Dr Ed Hall (Northumbria University). During the episode, Ed shared how his interest in social nothingness started, the influence of Susie Scott's work, and the implications for coaches and academics. Enjoy this fascinating episode!  Ed Hall profile: https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/our-staff/h/edward-hall/ Follow us o...

This week we received Dr Amber Regardsoe and Dr Daniel Milton (Cardiff Metropolitan University). They discussed Amber's doctoral thesis  and explored how coaches scaffold player learning through everyday interactions and the non-linear nature of athlete learning.  Follow us on our social media: https://linktr.ee/sportscoachinghub

Revised Description: Dr. Alex Consterdine (LJMU) joins us once again to discuss her latest publication, Reappraising Theorisations of Power in the Coach–Athlete Relationship: Future Directions for Sports Coaching Research . In this episode, Alex talks about her relationship with Bill Taylor, her academic journey, and the background and significance of the paper. Link to article: https://www.tandfo...

In this episode, we are joined by Dr. Frank Rodrigue, Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at the Université du Québec and host of the French-speaking podcast Temps d'arrêt . Mike and Oli sit down with Frank to discuss the pedagogical potential of podcasting. Enjoy! Frank's social media:  Université du Québec en Outaouais : coachfrankphd | Université du Québec en Outaouais LinkedIn : Franc...

We’re kicking off Season 7 with a very special guest: Dr. Zoë Avner from Deakin University. After delivering her Rising Star keynote at CRiC 2025, Zoë joins us and shares some insights and ideas from her presentation with our listeners. Enjoy the episode! Zoë Avner: https://experts.deakin.edu.au/60679-zoe-avner Follow us on our social media: https://linktr.ee/sportscoachinghub

In the season finale, we invited Dr Ed Hall (Northumbria University) and Dr Christian Thue Bjørndal (Norweigian School of Sport Sciences)  to share their thoughts on the recent CRiC 2025 conference. They discussed the challenges involved in organising the conference, the uniqueness of this year's conference, and briefly mentioned Christian's Hawaiian shirts.   You'll be back in your...

In this final bitesize episode, we received "our very own" Elliott Doyle (Cardiff Metropolitan University). As a first-time participant in a CRiC event, Elliott shared his initial impressions and discussed his current research and its implications. Enjoy! CRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/ Follow us on our social media: https://linktr.ee/sportscoachinghub

In this episode of the CRiC 2025 conference bitesize episodes, we received Dr Alex Lascu (Queensland Academy of Sport). In this very entertaining episode, Alex took us behind the scenes in her dual roles as a coach educator and researcher, and shared  Enjoy! Alex Lascu: https://skillacqlascu.com/ CRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/ Follow us on our social media: https://linktr.ee/sportsco...

It's the third episode of CRiC 2025 special bitesize episodes. This time, we were joined by Dr Sarah Cuvelier (Aix-Marseille University), whose research offers novel, in-depth insights into coach development in Olympic sports. CRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/ Follow us on our social media: https://linktr.ee/sportscoachinghub

In this episode of our CRiC 2025 bitesize series, we welcome Dr. Anne Tjønndal from Nord University. Anne shares her experiences at CRiC and discusses how applying a gender lens to technological innovation can impact sports coaching. Enjoy! Website: https://www.nord.no/en/about/employees/anne-tjonndal CRiC website: https://cricsportcoaching.com/ Follow us on our social media: https://linktr.ee/spo...