The Young Player Wellbeing Podcast

On the latest episode, we discuss the loan transition in football with Dr Sofie Kent. Sofie is a Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology and the perfect person to talk about this topic, having published her own research on coping with the loan transition in professional association football in 2022. For young players at the beginning of their professional career, going out on loan is a li...

On this episode, we draw from the expertise of the wonderful Dr Fleur - Michelle Coiffait. Fleur is a Clinical Psychologist working across the lifespan, meaning she works with young children all the way up to adults. Dr Coiffait specialises in supporting individuals with neurodivergence, such as ADHD and Autism. She has also worked as a Clinical Psychologist within a Premier League Academy, and su...

On today's episode we have a deep conversation about the power of human emotion with Emotional Intelligence (EI) Coach Nick Atzeni. It's obvious throughout this episode that Nick's philosophy and approach to practice aligns very much with ours. Nick's beliefs however stem from quite a different place. Coming from a business background, Nick has owned many of his own business at home in Italy, in C...

On our first episode of season 5 we bring you one of our strongest episodes to date, as we have our minds well and truly blown by ACT expert Trevor Jones. As a professional golfer, Trevor is someone who has lived experience of the demands of elite sport as an athlete. Since a lightbulb moment in competition, Trevor has lived and breathed Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in all areas of his...

SEASON 5 COMING MONDAY 19TH MAY The Young Player Wellbeing Podcast is back!! It's been a while, we are sorry we left you. We've been working hard behind the scenes to bring you another season of your favourite sport psychology podcast. This season we are going to be focusing on 'hot topics' in the world of sport and well-being. These are topics that we find come up most often on the podcast, but a...

On this episode we pick the brains of Dr James Newman. James is a senior lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Sheffield Hallam University. He is also a HCPC registered Sport and Exercise Psychologist and Associate Fellow and Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society (BPS).   James’ area of expertise is bullying, banter and whistleblowing in elite sport, having conducted...

On this episode we speak to Neil - Addington - Lefringhausen. A man who has plenty of experience integrating psychology in Scottish Football, spending 4.5 years as the academy psychologist at Celtic FC. As psychologists working in Scottish football, we take the opportunity to learn from Neil's experiences and consider the implications for our work but also for others supporting young athletes. Wor...

On our latest episode we speak to the brilliant Marketa Simova. Marketa is a Performance Lifestyle Practitioner at the UK Sport Institute. As part of her role, Marketa supports the wellbeing of Olympic level athletes in swimming and diving, most of whom competed at Paris 2024. We spoke to Marketa fresh off the back of the games (3 days to be exact) to deepen our understanding of performance lifest...

On this episode we speak to the inspiration that is David Smith MBE. Without chatting to David, you'll likely know him as an athlete and for his triumphant gold medal win at the London 2012 Paralympic games in para - rowing. Chat or listen to him and you'll quickly learn he is so much more. David's story is massively influenced by his life changing health challenges. In 2009, in a routine check, a...

On today's episode we pick the brains of the brilliant Gordon MacLelland. Gordon is the CEO and founder of 'Working with Parents in Sport', and the parent to sporty kids of his own, making him the perfect guest to address a topic we've been keen to explore for a while.    In sport, it can be quick to overlook parents as we are so focused on supporting the athletes. There might also be a bit of anx...

On this episode we talk to the wonderful Dr Arabella Ashfield - recorded in the podcast studio at Leeds Trinity University. Arabella has extensive experience in performance lifestyle. She has worked for the UK Sport Institute (UKSI; formerly EIS) for the past 15 years, initially as a performance lifestyle advisor with GB canoeing before progressing to a senior performance lifestyle coach with the...

On this episode we speak to Karl Colley, an ex professional footballer born in Sheffield. Karl relished the dream of so many young players by signing a professional contract at 17. Karl signed with Sheffield Wednesday - the rivals of his boyhood club Sheffield United. He later had spells at Newcastle United before returning home to Sheffield, signing at the opposite side of the city with Sheffield...

On this episode we talk to the amazing Jen Coe. Jen is an advocate of greater gender equity and inclusivity in sport and is dedicated to promoting well-being across the sporting landscape. With over two decades of experience working in high performance environments, she champions a culture of performance through well-being in her work with organisations and individuals. Jen has worked from grassro...

We launch season 4 with a bang as we talk to the one and only Dr Pete Olusoga. Anybody interested in sport psychology will know of Pete, whether that’s through his educational wellbeing snippets on social media, tuning in to the eighty percent mental podcast (which Pete hosts) or having been one of Pete’s many students. Toni and Brad have admired Pete from a far for some time and were buzzing to h...

🚨SEASON 4 COMING MONDAY SEPTEMBER 2ND🚨 We know you’ve missed us, but have no fear because we are BACK. Toni and Brad have been very busy off the back of what was a hugely successful season 3. Take a listen to find out what they have in store for you over this next season!

An opportunity to learn more about your hosts Brad and Toni, the creation and development of the Young Player Wellbeing Academy / Podcast and some key experiences that have shaped them as practitioners. The pair are interviewed by Dr Richard Simpson in the podcast studio at Leeds Trinity University. Talking Points 1. Intro and welcome to episode (00:00) 2. Why do we work in psychology / wellbeing?...

On this episode we speak to player care consultant, counsellor, mentor and aspiring coach Jake Jervis. Jake is an ex professional footballer, having had a successful career that included spells at Plymouth Argyle, Luton Town and Ross County as well as time in India, Finland and Turkey. Like most ex pro's, Jake picked up a wide range of skills and attributes from football. But Jake is more than...

Our latest episode is with Dr Paul Mansell. Paul is an expert on the psychology of stress in sport, having conducted a PhD focused on just that. Since then, Paul has taken up a role as a lecturer in sport and exercise psychology at Staffordshire University. Interestingly, Paul is also a podcast host, heading up ‘The Performing Under Pressure Podcast’. On the pod Paul chats to former professional f...

Our latest episode, recorded in the Leeds Trinity University podcast studio, is with one of their senior lecturers in sport psychology and published researcher in the field, Dr Helen Heaviside. Helen's research focuses on interpersonal expectancies and impression management. Brad and Toni had absolutely 0 idea about until recording this episode. This episode serves as a major learning experience f...

On this episode we talk to Dr Luke Barnes, in a special, shorter episode which we recorded in the podcast studio at Leeds Trinity University. Luke worked with an English Championship academy club for 6+ years as an academy psychologist. Throughout this time, Luke played a vital role in driving values, working closely with both staff and players to do so. This aligns well with Luke's PhD, which...

This week we are joined by Sport and Exercise Psychologist and founder of AfrowithJeevi and The Dare Platform, Jeevi Pillai. Jeevi has paved her own lane in the field, combining dance and sport psychology, currently residing in Nairobi, Kenya.  Jeevi brings with her a wealth of experience. Starting her sport psychology journey in her home nation of Singapore, Jeevi spent 2 spells as a Sport Psycho...

Our guest today is Director of Player Wellbeing at the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), Dr Michael Bennett. Michael is a former professional footballer, making over 150 appearances in the football league, having also represented England at U20 level. Unfortunately, like so many, Michael experienced a difficult injury in the early stages of his career. He speaks openly on this, admittin...

On this episode we get the opportunity to talk to the legendary 'elite sport sleep coach' Nick Littlehales. Nick is a #1 international best selling author with his book 'Sleep' and has worked with some of the top performing athletes, clubs and coaches in the world, including Manchester United and Alex Ferguson; heard of them? He is the creator of the R90 Technique which has revolut...

This week we are joined by performance psychologist Hugh Gilmore. Hugh has worked at the highest levels in sport, including roles as a psychologist for Olympic and Paralympic teams at Rio and Tokyo. On the episode, we draw on Hugh's knowledge and experience to shed light on some of the harsh realities of the world of sport, and offer tips to help athletes deal with this. Hugh has a unique outlook...

To launch season 3, we are joined by Double Olympian, performance sport specialist and mental health advocate Jack Green. Jack is competitive, driven and ambitious and has competed at the highest level. But as we know, success in sport / work does not always equate to happiness and fulfilment in life. This rings true for Jack, who publicly spoke about his poor mental health after London 2012 - a t...