Giving The Game Away

At just 24, Australian cricketer Peter Hatzoglou already has a cricketing CV to envy. The legspinner is one of the most exciting young players in the game, is a Big Bash winner, and has also had stints in the UK playing for Oval Invincibles and Glamorgan… However, his journey to the top is more unusual than most and not that long ago a career in cricket was not a reality for him. 

In fact, Peter took a break from the game in 2016 to focus on his exams and he had been trying to carve out a career in finance. Post-exams he returned to cricket, but just to play for his local village team Sunshine Heights and as recent as 2019 he was playing in the Cheshire 4th division. He was even working for KPMG as late as April last year and a professional cricketing career wasn’t really on his radar.

That all changed rapidly though and just a year after playing in the Cheshire 4th division, Peter was making his BBL debut for Melbourne Renegades and receiving praise from cricketing royalty such as the late, great Shane Warne. A year after that and he won the competition with the Perth Scorchers and he's now a well-renowned figure in Australian cricket. It’s a remarkable rise from village cricket to BBL champion in the space of five years. 

It was great to speak to Peter and hear about his incredible story and all the lessons he’s learned along the way - such as the importance of persistence, resilience and adaptability to change. He also speaks about the wisdom he received from Shane Warne who convinced Peter to come over to the UK and play some club cricket - which ultimately was the catalyst for him getting a Hundred contract with Oval Invincibles. 

There's so much to learn from Peter's story and we loved chatting to him. We hope you get as much out of the episode as we did.

Paul McGinley was an elite golfer in his own right - reaching the lofty heights of top 20 in the world at one stage. However, Paul is perhaps best known for his success in team competitions, notably the Ryder Cup in which he played integral roles in 2002 when he sunk the winning putt and in 2014 when he captained Europe to victory. During this episode, Paul explains why he performed so well in team competitions, as well as his philosophy as captain of Europe’s victorious 2014 Ryder Cup side and how he got the best out of his players. 

In this episode we discuss:

• Reframing challenges into opportunities
• Tailoring leadership approach for each individual
• Taking influence from Sir Alex Ferguson
• Delivering clear messages as a leader
• Creating a fun team environment
• What made the great Ryder Cup players so good
• Predictions for 2023 Ryder Cup
• McIlory’s recent form

TOM BOSWORTH | Taking The First Step | Out Now

In the latest episode of the podcast, we talk to two-time Olympic Race Walker, Tom Bosworth, who provides some of the most powerful insights we’ve had on the series to date.

During the conversation, we cover:

- Captaining Team England and Winning Silver at the Commonwealth Games
- Walking a mile quicker than anyone in history
- How the first step is often the hardest part of achieving anything
- Tips to manage our mental health
- Becoming the first openly gay British track and field athlete 
- Bouncing back from suicidal thoughts and depression
- How we can improve and harness our own self-belief

Amy Williams was propelled to stardom in 2010 after winning Britain’s first individual gold medal at the Winter Olympic Games in 30 years. Having only started Skeleton Racing at 19 years old, eight years prior to the Games, Amy’s story is one of dreaming big and following an ambition with focus and disciplined day-to-day habits. The topics we cover in this episode are: 

- How a lack of resources can often be your biggest unfair advantage 

- The importance of consistently getting your thoughts down on paper

- How true enjoyment of your craft leads you to unlocking your potential

- Controlling the controllables 

- How discipline is more important than motivation 

- The moment Amy knew she’d won Gold

Amy has written about all of her experiences and learnings in a book called Talent to Triumph, and we highly recommend it. Check out more of Amy's work at https://www.amywilliams.com/. 

Ever since the Lionesses completed that historic Euros victory in the summer, we’ve wanted to get someone involved in the England set up on the podcast - and having played many times for the U23 national side, Anna Patten is in a perfect position to explain the current state of play in the women’s game and how the Euros success has given a real opportunity for even further growth. 

Everyone was swept up by Lioness fever in the summer and the whole nation was captivated by the on-pitch successes of the team and their incredible off-pitch personalities, so it was great to get an even better insight into that team from Anna.

Anna is one of the rising stars in the women’s game and is currently on-loan at Aston Villa from Arsenal. She has worked closely with the likes of England and Arsenal stars such as Leah Williamson and Jill Scott and so has seen first-hand how the profiles of women’s footballers have grown rapidly in recent years with strong media interest, growing attendances and major sponsorship and broadcast deals now coming into the game. It’s an exciting time for the women’s game, and at just 23 years old, Anna is going to be at the forefront of it all… 

Listen to this episode to hear Anna discuss the legacy of the Lionesses as well as her own career, motivations and ambitions.

Tony Stanger is a Scottish rugby legend - playing 52 times for Scotland and, up until very recently, holding the nation's record for total tries scored. Post-rugby, Tony became an author, a coach and a business owner with his high performance consultancy named ‘Stanger Pro’. In this episode we cover: 

- Scoring Scotland’s most famous try

- Leadership lessons from Sir Ian McGeechan

- The importance of not tying one’s identity to their levels of success

- Why parents are the most important element of youth development 

- How asking honest questions can lead to high performance

Anna Hemmings is a six-time world champion, two-time Olympian and now a world-class keynote speaker and performance consultant.

Anna’s sporting career can be summed up as not only one of elite high-performance but also one of consistent success against the odds. Initially, this was proving the British Head Coach wrong – who had told her when younger that she was not big or strong enough to ever compete at the highest level of her sport. Later on in her journey, she would overcome an even bigger hurdle. At the peak of her career, Anna was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and told by doctors that she would never race again.

In 2005, after two years of being kept out of kayaking, Anna made a miraculous return to fitness and won at the World Championships in Perth, taking her back to the top of her sport. Not surprisingly, her incredible efforts were recognised at the Sunday Times Sports Woman of the Year awards later that year, where she won the Champions award.

Through all these experiences, Anna has become an expert in the field of high performance and resilience. As the founding director of Beyond the Barriers - a high performance consultancy that helps individuals and teams – Anna travels the world delivering lessons in leadership to a range of teams in the corporate world. 

Anna has also appeared on Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO, and, as two huge fans of that podcast, when we saw Anna on there we knew we had to get in touch. We loved having a similar conversation on the importance of connection, on how powerful a tool visualisation is and how understanding your true motivators can lead you to success.

Christian is a former rugby player for England, British Lions & London Wasps. At 27 though, despite being one of the highest Premiership try scorers of all time, Christian took up a new challenge by becoming part of the NFL International Player Programme, securing a place on the Buffalo Bills squad & ultimately scoring a touchdown with his first competitive touch of a football.

During the podcast, Christian talks about various mindsets, approaches and mental techniques he used during his career. The most notable of which was a mental shift he went through halfway through his career. When starting out on his rugby journey, Christian had moulded his training and his lifestyle all in pursuit of his ultimate goal - to play for England. However, when the call-ups did not come – much to the bemusement of many rugby fans - Christian said a negative mindset crept in, which then led to a period of change.

From this point, Christian searched to evaluate what success meant to him, and why he was doing what he was doing. With the burden of the constant search of an England place removed from his shoulders, he was able to entertain, flourish and show people the extreme natural talent he had. As a result, opportunities opened up for him, like a two-year stint in the NFL and the opportunity to blaze a trail for English athletes wanting to make it Stateside.

Fans among you will know that Christian is currently on the lookout for his next opportunity and challenge, and in our podcast he reveals what attracts him to the different leagues. For the first time in a broadcast interview, he reveals there have been offers, from an interesting mix of clubs around the world.

It was an incredible experience speaking to someone who is constantly looking to push the boundaries of what he can achieve, someone who has done things differently to many of those around him and someone who was not afraid to sacrifice a position of comfort in pursuit of the unknown.

This episode also marks the start of the new season for the podcast – we’ve got lots of interesting guests coming up and we can't wait to release some of the conversations

Tanni Grey-Thompson was born with spina bifida and subsequently became paralysed at the age of 7. Six years later, inspired by Paralympic legend Chris Hallam, Tanni began wheelchair racing and instantly fell in love with the sport. Tanni had won her first race within three years of starting, and just two years after that, Tanni won the London Wheelchair Marathon. This was the first in a long list of competitive wheelchair successes, and a testament to the mental strength required to overcome hardship and to compete at the very highest level of sport. 

At the age of just 19, Tanni competed at the Seoul Paralympic Games and took bronze for the 200m. From that point onwards, having had a taste for the Games and the intense training process it demands, Tanni set her sights on achieving more success; which she certainly did. 

In 1992 at the Barcelona Games, Tanni elevated herself to the world sporting elite with four gold medals, a feat she would subsequently repeat in true elite fashion at the Atlanta Paralympics in 1996. The Barcelona olympics were especially important though for Tanni as it marked a change in coverage by the media. Helen Rollason, one of the main broadcasters in the UK at the time, gave greater coverage to the Paralympics than there had been previously. 

This made things more emotional when in 2000, Tanni won the Helen Rollason award at Sports Personality of the Year award. Somewhat disappointingly though, the BBC had failed to provide a ramp up to the awards stage, denying Tanni the deserved opportunity to celebrate her award at what is one of the biggest nights in the British sporting calendar. In typical fashion, Tanni reframed the mistake as an opportunity to suggest a number of changes in the BBC, and indeed across the country, with regards to their attitudes towards disability rights.  

Tanni retired from sport in 2007, ending her career with 30 World Records, 11 gold medals and 6 London Marathon wins. Since retiring, Tanni has gone on to become Chancellor of Northumbria University, and in 2010, became an Independent Crossbench Peer in the House of Lords. As a working peer, Tanni uses her experience and knowledge during debates in the House and has spoken on a range of issues including welfare reform, disability rights and sport. 

To share over an hour with Tanni was an incredible honour and a real privilege. Tanni spoke to us about her belief that hardship is crucial in allowing us to achieve our full potential, that the hardest part of our journey is often getting started and the opportunity we all have in our own lives to make real, long-lasting change for others.

Thomas Hal Robson-Kanu's most famous moment on the football pitch came in 2016 when, against all odds, Wales reached the Semi-Final of the Euros. In the quarter-final, Hal Robson-Kanu scored one of the most memorable goals in modern football history, beating three defenders with one Cruyff turn and putting it past Thibaut Courtois, one of the best keepers in the world at the time. The individual brilliance of the goal warranted it being awarded a Puskas award and to all football fans, it perfectly encapsulated the exciting journey the Welsh side had been on that tournament.

Since that tournament, Hal has continued to play at the highest level of football, playing internationally for Wales and in the Premier League with West Brom. As if this wasn’t enough, he’s also managed to launch a global e-commerce brand at the same time.  As Hal says in the pod, some footballers play golf in their free time, some play call of duty, instead he’s decided to use his free time and mental energy to enter the world of entrepreneurship.  Since beginning in January 2018, the Turmeric Co has grown to become a leading e-commerce brand in the world, now distributing 300’000 shots each month to over 50’000 consumers. Whilst these figures are impressive and help to paint a picture of how successful the brand has been in a short space of time, Hal says real success for the company will depend on the amount of lives he manages to change. 

This opportunity to build a community of wellness, and to help habit-form healthy behaviours in people’s lives, is what stands as his main motivation now. Although the motivation to play in the Premier League was the focus for Hal throughout his teens and twenties, it is now the opportunity to change people’s lives that “goes beyond scoring goals in the premier league and the adulation that comes with it” which we found really interesting. Hal’s experiences in getting to the top of his sport, as well as leading a start-up, have led him to gain an incredibly detailed understanding of the psychology of performance, whether that’s techniques that allowed him to perform in the semi-final of a euros watched by billions of fans, or maintaining positive mental wellbeing when starting a dynamic and ever-evolving business.

In our podcast, Hal’s understanding of the awareness of mental health is clear – in a revealing way, which many sportspeople would shy away from doing, Hal helps paint a picture of the hugely under-reported mental health crisis currently taking place in professional football and the structural reasons behind this. In his words, if it came out “you would not believe it”. For Hal, one of the main reasons for this is fear; players and managers fear under-performing, they fear social media abuse, they fear losing their livelihoods and what this creates is a hush culture, which needs to change. 

This podcast was aimed to help display athletes as more than their on-field personalities and we feel this episode is a perfect example of this. It also marks a cool milestone in the podcast journey we’ve been on in the last year. We thank Hal so much again for his time and the ability to meet him in person – we encourage you all to check out the Turmeric co and appreciate the amazing work he’s doing in that space.

Having captained the England cricket team, as well as later becoming both a professional boxer and mixed martial arts fighter, there is no one else in the world who has experienced a sporting career like Adam Hollioake has.

Despite having been born in Australia, as well as living in Hong Kong throughout his childhood, Adam Hollioake captained the England cricket team for the first time in 1997. In that same year, he made his test debut playing alongside his brother.

Adam and his brother would go on to share the field together across multiple seasons with England and Surrey C.C.C. In 2002 though, in a piece of news that shocked all sports fans across the world, Adam’s brother Ben tragically passed away in a car crash. As Adam refers to in our podcast, the emotions that the game evoked and the associations the game had with his brother, meant he faced a difficulty of playing the sport and it wasn’t long before he then retired.

Since retiring, apart from a brief return to T20 cricket in 2007, he became a professional boxer and a professional MMA fighter. The ability to not only face the physical fear of entering a ring, but also the fear of entering a new sport completely, is something Adam coped with in a way that not many could. In our conversation he says it's down to a lack of fear - something that, if harnessed correctly, can be incredibly effective.

Adam had stints coaching England Lions and Afghanistan after calling quits on his fighting career, the latter stint of which led him to experience a terrorist attack – which Adam details in our podcast and the reflection and description could not be more timely considering the shocking scenes that we are currently seeing in the country.

He now coaches Queensland Bulls, the Sheffield Shield winners, and the side of Marnus Labuschagne – one of the world’s best test player. It was amazing to hear first-hand reflections of how one of the best performers in one of the world’s largest sports, goes about their daily work. As Adam says, it’s a thirst for knowledge and an unrelenting dedication to improve that lead him to his success.

Adam is an incredibly deep-thinker – which suits what we’re trying to achieve with the podcast perfectly. We talked about everything from the importance of living without fear, the reality that life is a constant learning journey and how success seems more sweet when you’ve experienced failure with it.

A British & Irish Lion, international rugby player and producer of some of the most memorable moments in English Rugby.

Coming off the back of a Grand Slam win in 1995, in which Tony Underwood and his brother, Rory, scored 7 of the 9 tries their team scored all tournament, England entered the World Cup of that same year full of confidence. The highlight of that campaign for England would be a quarter-final win over Australia – a side who had beaten them in the final four years earlier - with Tony scoring one of the most memorable tries in English rugby history, out-running the reigning world-champions’ defence from his own half.

Weeks later in the semi-final, Tony Underwood had the job of marking Jonah Lomu. After the 80 minutes, Jonah Lomu had announced himself on the world stage with four devastating tries, while Tony understandably had one of his lowest moments in the game. With New Zealand beating England 45-29, Tony had by his own admission under-performed on a big stage. However, as you will see in the podcast, he is far from someone who lets setbacks define them. Tony focussed on controlling the controllable, and rather than ruminating on past mistakes, he focussed on what constructive actions he could do to ensure he got back to his best.

Testament to this was Tony gaining a place on his second Lions tour two years later– one of the most memorable Lions tours of all time – which many will know from the documentary ‘Living With The Lions’. That tour, Tony would get a full Lions cap in the third test, which he refers to as a ‘symbol of resilience’. From one of the lowest points of his career in the semi-final in 1995, to achieving the ultimate honour in British rugby, Tony is proof that resilience and self-belief are some of the key components in maximizing your potential.

Since retiring from rugby, Tony has gone on to captain the largest commercial aircraft in the world - navigating an A380 across the globe. More recently though, in his role with Wordplay, Tony is helping organisations and individuals drive performance through better relationships and teamwork. As can be heard in our podcast, he has a set of proven methods to help people achieve their goal, and to help people facing their own Jonah.

Ed Jackson had a ten-year career in rugby. A proud Bath lad, and someone who had grown up watching Bath at the Rec, Ed’s dreams came true when he was signed by the club in 2007 at 18 years old. 

Surprisingly, it was a day off the rugby field though that would bring Ed’s rugby career to an end. On 6th April 2017, at a family party, Ed chose to jump into a pool and unfortunately the depth was much shallower than expected. Ed was rushed to hospital immediately – along the way having to be resuscitated three times – when in the Spinal Cord Injury unit at Southmead Hospital he received the devastating news that he would never walk again. However, as we write this message, Ed is getting ready to walk Mont Blanc – one of the numerous mountains he climbed in the last 4 years. 

He is the living example that in life we cannot change certain things that happen to us. What we can control, however, is how we perceive these events, and therefore our responses to certain setbacks. Since jumping in the pool, Ed has defied the odds to walk again, has climbed mountains in Nepal, has been recruited to commentate on the Paralympics in Tokyo and – as of yesterday – has become a Sunday Times best-selling writer. These are all feats that– to Ed’s own admission – he wouldn’t have done when still a rugby player. However, Ed’s ability to find purpose in his life and to practice daily self-improvement, gratitude and perspective has allowed him to achieve. Often in life it’s the post-traumatic growth we need to become who we always had the potential to be, and Ed is testament to that. 

Ed has also co-founded Millimetres to Mountains, a platform that helps individuals redefine their limitations and take steps towards a brighter future. Alongside this, Ed has recently released his book, entitled “Lucky: From Tragedy to Triumph one step at a time.”  The book, which is available on Amazon, is an incredibly personal account of Ed’s journey and the mental and physical challenges he overcame to get to the point he’s at today. The strength of the story has been confirmed by reaching Sunday Times best-seller status recently – another incredible achievement by an amazing bloke.

Today, we have the great privilege of releasing our conversation with Layla Guscoth who is both an international sportsperson and a qualified Doctor on the Covid-19 frontline. 

In February 2020, Layla won a dream move to play professional netball for the Adelaide Thunderbirds in the Australian Suncorp Super League, widely regarded as one of the most competitive in the world. Just a few months later, as the pandemic spread, Layla – who studied Medicine at Oxford - had to choose between staying in Australia or returning to England to join the frontline fight against Covid-19. As a dedicated Doctor, Layla returned to England. 

We often speak to athletes about the need to deal with pressure in order to achieve their goals and Layla’s success is a wonderful example. Whether coping with the intensity of an Oxford medicine degree, the high-stakes environment of elite sport or, more recently, the life-and-death environment of Covid-19 treatment, Layla has demonstrated that capacity to deal with intense situations. So there will be few people more knowledgeable than Layla about coping with the demands of high performance whether in sport or at work, and it was fascinating to hear her insights on both of these. We were so grateful for the conversation we had together, and we hope you enjoy it.

“Will it make the boat go faster?” is a question that helped change the life and the sporting success of Ben Hunt-Davis MBE.

Although Ben is now an Olympic Gold medallist and renowned performance consultant, success in the rowing boat hadn’t always come as frequently for Ben as you may have thought. By his own admission, Ben had underachieved on the Olympic and World Championship stage for the first years of his career. It was on a drunken night out, after another disappointing performance, that Ben and his crew agreed that something needed to change.

In 1998, they decided to construct their new training regime around the question of ‘Will it make the boat go faster?’. They asked themselves that simple question before every action they took in the lead up to the Sydney Olympics. The strategy - with an evidence-based approach - allowed the team to see improvements within months. So much so that, Ben’s crew won gold at Sydney 2000, and stood atop of the podium as Olympic champions.

Will It Make The Boat Go Faster is now the name of Ben’s consultancy which is enlisted by companies across the world to help them reach high performance. The strategy has been written into sporting folklore and is trusted by the likes of Clive Woodward showing that it is applicable to any sport. It can also be applied to business or everyday life, and Ben explains that all you have to do is identify what your 'crazy goal' is and understand what the question is that you need to ask yourself to achieve that goal.

What shone through in our conversation with Ben was just how honest you have to be – with yourself and others – in order to achieve your goals. He also explained how having clarity about what the goal is, can propel a team towards success. 

As Ben suggests, whatever your ‘boat’ may be, why do anything that doesn’t make it go faster.

If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out Ben's website www.willitmaketheboatgofaster.com and read his book Will It Make The Boat Go Faster.

As a teenager, Frances Houghton wrote a contract to herself saying “I vow to do everything I can to get to Sydney 2000.” Twenty years later, as well as having already achieved the initial dream of going to Sydney, Frances was a 5-time Olympian, 4-time World Champion and one of the most successful British rowers of all time. 

Frances - as the first female British rower to be selected to compete in five different Olympic games – has a unique sporting experience to reflect on. She has a wealth of knowledge about the dedication, drive and hard-work that is needed to get to the top, as well as how to sustain it. 

However, this incredible obsession to succeed, matched with the intense nature of rowing, meant that Frances experienced burnout along her journey. At this point, Frances decided to change her mindset, and rather than focussing entirely on winning medals, she began focussing on enjoying the moment with teammates. It couldn’t have worked out better, and in 2016, on the podium in Rio with a silver medal round her neck, she experienced the joy she’d been craving. 

The stories behind Frances’ Olympic experiences are written down in her book – “Learnings From Five Olympic Games”. Frances’ book contains thought-provoking anecdotes and learnings from a 21 year career in elite-level sport. We couldn’t recommend it more and think it’s so valuable for anyone wanting to achieve high performance, whether in sport or not. Frances’ book can be purchased on her website www.franceshoughton.co.uk

Grandson of former Arsenal footballer and England cricket legend, Denis, Nick Compton has huge sporting pedigree and in many ways it was written in the stars that he would become a professional athlete. However, it wasn’t just good genes that enabled Nick to reach the highest level - it was his unwavering focus and relentless dedication that allowed him to flourish on the international stage.

In an honest reflection of his career, Nick admits that sometimes his intense focus and desire to succeed was unhealthy and contributed to feelings of anxiety and doubt. During the interview, Nick also gives a fascinating insight into the English dressing room at that time, when the side was one of the greatest in the world.

A prolific opening batsman, Nick scored two centuries for England in his 16 Test matches, and impressed players, fans and media with his grit and resilience. Many in the game felt Nick deserved more than just 16 Test matches, and his record as one of Alistair Cook’s most successful opening partners would corroborate that. While Nick reflects on his career with a slight disappointment that he didn’t play more often, he can be proud of his performances when he was selected.

Since retiring in 2016, Nick has found a new passion as a photographer. He’s working hard to shine a light on communities that often don’t receive the attention they should do. Check out Nick’s work on his Instagram @nick.compton or website www.nickcompton.com

As described by ESPN Cricinfo, "Lewis Hatchett achieved one of the most gloriously defiant careers in the history of cricket…" Lewis was born with a condition called Poland Syndrome, a rare condition which appears in only one in 100’00 births, leaving Hatchett missing a right pectoral muscle, and the two ribs that would have been behind it. At birth, Hatchett’s parents were told that he would not be able to play and compete in sport at all.

In Lewis’ own words though, he knew he was different but wasn’t willing to be treated that way and, as a result, he continued to compete in sports. Whilst doing so, he would visualise signing a professional cricket contract at his home county Sussex and, in 2010, this became a reality. Having manifested his own ultimate dream, and having had a successful 6 year career at the height of his sport in the UK, it is no surprise that Lewis Hatchett is a firm believer in the power of visualisation as a tool for enhancing elite performance, which he now teaches other athletes.

Alongside visualisation, he’s now helping other athletes, ranging from NFL Running Backs to Olympic Gold Medallists, realise the power of breathwork, meditation and yoga through his business Sport Yogi. In what we feel is an incredibly innovative way of enhancing elite performance, Sport Yogi allows Athletes to get every inch out of their recovery, and ultimately cope with the physical and mental stresses of professional sport.

Lewis’ story is the epitome of making no excuses in order to live up to your dream. If you’d like to hear more of Lewis’ story, and how he now helps other athletes carve out their own journeys, check out his podcast Raising Your Game, by clicking the link in our bio.

With 27 ODIs and 7 Test matches under his belt, former England cricketer, James Taylor, was an extremely talented batsman and fielder, who was renowned for his work ethic and physical fitness. And it was his exceptional fitness levels that ultimately saved his life, when in 2016, he was diagnosed with arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy or ARVC, a life-threatening heart condition, similar to the one sustained by Fabrice Muamba. If it wasn't for James' excellent fitness, it is unlikely that he would have survived.

Unfortunately, the condition forced Taylor’s retirement and robbed him of more success as an England cricketer. However, prior to the diagnosis in 2016, Taylor had already achieved so much in an England shirt. He scored a 98* versus Australia in a World Cup, and later scored a hundred against the same opposition. He was a big game player, and was always confident that he would perform in high-pressured situations due to the hard-work and preparation he put in off-the-field.

Perhaps James’ fondest memory on a cricket pitch was actually the two incredible catches he took in Johannesburg during a historic series win against South Africa. Such is the cruel nature of sport, it was just a matter of weeks after the highs of Jo’burg that James received the devastating news that his playing career was over.

Not only could James no longer play cricket again, the sport that he loved and had spent most of his life playing, but he could no longer play any sport at all, or any activity that could increase his heart rate whatsoever. For someone who loved competing, training, and staying fit - that was an extremely tough blow.

But what’s incredible about James is his sheer positivity, and shortly after the diagnosis, he changed his focus from what he couldn’t do to what he can do. He is still involved in the game, working as a coach, as a commentator and also as a selector for the England team. In his new role as selector, James was able to contribute to England’s World Cup heroics in 2019, and although James is unable to don the England whites any more, it is certain that he will still bring so much positivity to cricket in this country in the years to come. 

In 2016, at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, Emily Diamond and her teammates stood on the podium after winning the bronze medal in the 4 x 400m relay. While the race to get there only lasted a few minutes, the journey started many months and years prior.

Ever since Emily took up athletics as a teenager, she has been focussed, dedicated and willing to make sacrifices in order to reach the top. Sprinting is a sport with incredibly fine margins, meaning that immense discipline, determination and motivation is required to ensure every millisecond is gained.

Sprinting is also hugely psychologically demanding, and in this episode, Emily explained in fascinating detail about the mental challenges of the sport and what goes through her mind during a race.

At 29, Emily has already achieved so much – she’s an Olympic bronze medallist, a European gold medallist, a World Championships silver medallist and a British Champion. Emily has started to use her experiences to give motivational talks at schools, inspiring children to participate in sport and pursue their goals, no matter how ambitious they are.

We are grateful to Emily for sharing her journey, and we enjoyed learning about the mental challenges of sprinting and what it really takes to become an Olympian.

Professional rugby player, business owner, physics graduate, philanthropist. These are all words that describe Josh Ibuanokpe.

A front row forward for firstly Harlequins and latterly Saracens, Josh has been a part of some hugely successful squads in the Gallagher Premiership, and has been a part of some memorable wins along the way.

Playing front-row in elite-level rugby is a profession that requires 100% intensity, knowing that every-time you do your job you’re at risk of injury. This was the case in 2016, when Josh dislocated his neck during a scrum. Injuries of any nature are difficult to deal with, let alone one of this severity, and It is testament to Josh’s mindset that he was able to return to elite-level rugby with as much confidence as he did.

Josh has always been passionate about furthering himself both on and off the pitch. In 2020, he founded his food business Wing Ting. The business was an immediate success and Josh was awarded with a Rugby Players Association Vodafone Gain Line award as recognition for his achievements away from rugby.

Josh is a firm believer in elite athletes using their platform for good, and admirably, he decided to donate 10% of all Wing Ting revenues to Southwark foodbank. It is another example of athlete-activism that we’re seeing emerge in sport at the moment and it’s a really good blueprint for other athletes to follow.

Josh eventually decided to retire from rugby in early 2021 to focus on his studies, his business and a career outside of sport. Given the success in just such a short space of time, it can’t be long before Wing Ting pops up across all of London soon.

Miles Hammond started off his career as a promising young bowler, travelling the world with the England U-19 side, and taking wickets for his county. However, a potential battle with the ‘yips’ followed, and Miles had to adapt and change his game entirely.

The ‘yips’ was coined by golfer Tommy Armour in the 1920s to describe his sudden inability to hole short putts, and it has since become one of the most fascinating areas of sport. Psychologists still know little about the cause of the yips, which can come on suddenly and cause an athlete to have a complete mental block – unable to perform a skill they have practised thousands of time before.

Miles’ case meant that he was unable to bowl, and resultantly he was left out of the Gloucestershire side for three years, left questioning whether he had a future in cricket at all. However, Miles demonstrated immense resilience to adapt his game and focus his energy into becoming a batsman instead. He bounced back from the yips and ended up returning to the Gloucestershire team three years later, scoring a hundred on his comeback match. His journey is another example of an athlete reframing a setback into an opportunity.

We’re grateful to Miles for opening up on his experiences and providing his insight into the psychology of cricket – which is probably one of the most mentally demanding games in the world. We learned a lot from this episode, and hopefully those listening will be able to pick up some techniques for dealing with the pressures of sport too.

Kenji Gorré is definitely more than just a footballer.

Son of Dutch football legend, Dean Gorré, Kenji was tipped to stardom from a young-age, when he played for both Manchester City’s and Manchester United’s academies at just 6 years old. This was the perfect footballing education, as he learned from the likes of Giggs, Scholes and Ferdinand on a daily basis on the training ground. During this episode, Kenji talks about the winning culture that was instilled at United, and what he learned from his time there.

Unfortunately, at 18 years old, Kenji received a brutal setback when he was informed by Sir Alex Ferguson that he was being released by United. However, Kenji didn’t give up on his professional football dream and ended up playing for Swansea City in the Premier League – proving that setbacks can become opportunities with the right attitude.

Although, while in Wales, another difficult period ensued, with Kenji battling a gambling addiction. Fortunately, Kenji overcame the addiction and he’s now happier than ever, enjoying his football for Nacional in Portugal and playing for the Curacao national team.

Kenji is using his experiences of dealing with setbacks to help other footballers fine tune their own mentality. He’s recently founded On the Ball - a service where elite footballers can learn more about developing the correct mind-set for elite sport. He also hosts Konversations with Kenji, a podcast discussing the mental side of football.

His positivity and energy is infectious and we really enjoyed hearing his ideas about the mental side of the game. If you liked this episode – go check out Konversations with Kenji for more insightful interviews with elite footballers.

The incredibly technical nature of cricket means that many of the games current professionals had to have been born “with a bat in hand”. For Tymal Mills, the case could not have been more different. At 13, as someone who was largely unaware of the sport, Tymal was asked to fill in for a friend in a local after-school club game. A clear natural to the sport, within five years of first playing Tymal already had a contract at Essex CCC. 

At aged 22, Tymal experienced his first injury shock when, during a spell for Essex CCC, he began feeling odd sensations in his legs and lower back. After numerous consultations, and fears that the shocks could have been early signs of Multiple Sclerosis, Tymal faced the decision of whether or not to retire from cricket. Although the severity of the injury meant he had medical grounds to retire, Tymal made the decision to continue his career, but to focus solely on T20 cricket. 

At the time, due to the realisation that he would no longer be able to play Test Cricket for England, this felt like a setback. However, no one could have predicted what was to come. Looking back, as Tymal claims, the injury was “the best thing to have happened”; the subsequent focus on T20 cricket allowed Tymal to become one of the games most famous players and he is now the true epitome of a modern, franchise cricketer. 

Shortly after making his England Debut, Tymal was bought for £1.3m in the 2017 IPL Auction, having been selected to feature in a team alongside Virat Kohli and AB De Villiers. These are opportunities that may not have been available had he focussed on four-day cricket, and it is testament to the fact, in sport, often minor setbacks are part of a much greater end goal. 

Tymal is now using his story to help inspire the next generation of fast bowlers and his book, called ‘the Book of Pace’, can be purchased online @pacejournal or on their website. Tymal's story is one of raw natural talent, combined with immense resilience, and we hope you enjoy it.

Jay DeMerit's story is one of high risks and high rewards. At 18 years old, Jay flew to England with just $1800 to his name, in the bid to become a professional footballer.  

Jay spent a couple of years in the lower tiers of English football, before playing Watford in a friendly and impressing so much that he secured a contract with the then-Championship side. During his time at Watford, Jay became captain, scored and won man of the match in the Championship play-off final, before becoming a regular in the Premier League. 

His strong performances in England's top-tier resulted in Jay being called up for his national team, the USA. However, just months before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Jay suffered a horrific eye injury which almost left him blind. Like with most challenges in his career, Jay displayed immense resilience and bounced back, recovering and putting in impressive performances in the World Cup.  

It is a truly incredible story, which Jay has shared at a TED Talk, on podcasts and even as the subject of a documentary film. It was fascinating to hear first-hand and we hope you enjoy and are inspired by this session too. 

Most athlete’s careers are full of highs and lows, but for Alex the peaks and troughs have been bigger than most. Medals at the Commonwealth Games and the Rugby Sevens World Cup have come alongside the death of his father, a series of long-term injuries and Olympic heartbreak. Alex’s strength to bounce-back from these set-backs is phenomenal and his willingness to speak openly about them is inspirational. 

During the session, Alex also talks about starting the social-media-famous ‘Shave, Donate, Nominate’ Campaign, his ambitions for Tokyo 2021, and his advice for young sportspeople on how finding their 'why' can help to keep levels of motivation and resilience high. 

Alex is a central figure in the England Rugby Sevens team, determined to reach Tokyo 2021. To support the team’s goal of reaching next year’s Olympics go to @englandrugbysevens on Instagram & https://www.pledgesports.org/projects/england-rugby-sevens-road-to-tokyo/.

The coronavirus pandemic provided an opportunity for football’s professionals to take a break from the game, and use the time to express their interests, via Instagram and Twitter, for areas outside of football. Perhaps the best example of this was Hector Bellerin, who, since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, has not only become the second-largest shareholder at Forest Green Rovers FC, but has also channelled his creativity with purpose to become the Creative Director of a new Fifa 21 Feature. Hector Bellerin in this sense, is definitely “more than” a footballer, as his newly-launched podcast is so aptly named.  

As players like Bellerin become bigger features of the game, it becomes clear just how important image is in modern football and, the ability for clubs to profit off this image, undoubtedly now impacts transfer negotiations. Last summer, for example, Tottenham Hotspur’s attempts to sign Paulo Dybala from Juventus failed due to a complication regarding the image rights of the Argentinian forward. It highlighted the complexity of completing transfers even when the two clubs and the player had reached an agreement, and it is something that many football fans, us included, couldn’t quite get their head around. 

To help explain disputes such as this, we have invited on top football lawyer, Daniel Geey, described by Forbes as “one of the most sought-after advisors for players, agents and clubs”, to help break down many of these secrets of business within the boardrooms of the Premier League. Whether it is the shirt sale myth, the strangest clauses he’s ever seen in premier league contracts, breaking down the true reality of a £35m transfer or a club takeover, Daniel has been at the heart of modern football business for years. Daniel offers a fascinating and accessible insight into the world of football negotiations, some happening over Whatsapp late at night, and helps to break down many of football’s myths.

Narrated by Tom Hardy, the most recent All or Nothing series grants access to Tottenham Hotspur during the first campaign in their new billion-pound stadium. In contrast to the past edition with Man City, which was criticised for being a blatant PR exercise, the Spurs edition is far from sanitised, and lifts the lid insightfully into the lifestyle of a modern professional footballer. The series humanises the Spurs players by showing their down to earth changing room discussions and highlighting their inspirational work in the community. In this way, the series helps to change the often negative narrative that surrounds the modern footballer.

Someone else who is attempting to change this same narrative is Luke Amos, former Spurs and current QPR footballer, whom we recently invited on for a session. During a media storm about young footballers inviting girls back to their hotels during quarantine and others getting into trouble with police while abroad, Luke Amos (with full A’s and A*s at GCSE) is helping to break the mould and show off footballers in a more positive light. As he says in our session, when quizzed about why footballers are some of the most scrutinised people in society, “of course it's a lot of money for just kicking a ball around, but footballers are only working class people who have made something of themselves... so I always find it hard to understand why people scrutinise us so much.”

Key evidence of his intelligence and awareness is Luke’s understanding about what football can give him. Too often the perception is that footballers only motivation for playing is fame, money and social media notoriety, but Luke explains how football can give him the opportunity, alongside many others from working class backgrounds, to inspire change in poorer communities. In a similar way to Hector Bellerin, who in a recent Forbes article, explained “football gives me so much, it puts me in a position that I can help more than most”, Luke details his ultimate ambition to play in the Premier League which will enable him to be financially stable for his family and one day enable him to go back to Nigeria and help out in the communities there.

The importance of preparing early for the time when he can no longer play as a professional would have become all too apparent when, 6 weeks after stepping out for Tottenham in front of 65,000 people against Barcelona at 21, Luke ruptured his ACL and was out injured for what he describes as the toughest year of his life. Psychologically, he turned to The Chimp Paradox, one of the seminal books for anyone on a journey to understanding their brain.  As he says, “when you go to sleep at night, it's just you and your thoughts, so you've got to mentally stay strong." He’s incredibly open about the doubts and stresses he experienced at this time and it was a pleasure to chat to him.

Now, having signed for QPR at 23, Amos is ready to return to the Premier League and fulfil his career goal. We chatted to him on a Tuesday night after a double training session, yet he was more than happy to chat about anything from BLM to Messi, and from income inequality to Maguire.

Alicia Blagg: Olympian, National Champion, Commonwealth Gold medalist, future detective and mental health advocate. It’s an extensive CV already at just 23 years old. 

For most athletes, competing at the Olympic Games is the pinnacle of their career. For Alicia Blagg, involvement in the Games was achieved at just 15 years old when she competed at London 2012 in the diving. Success came even earlier for Alicia, when at 13 she became England’s youngest ever double national champion. 

Competing on the big stage and being thrust into the limelight at such a young age is a difficult challenge, and while Alicia successfully dealt with the intense pressure at the time, on reflection she admits it took its toll mentally. So too did horrific injuries to her wrist and shoulder which ultimately forced Alicia into retirement earlier this month at just 23.

The nature of diving contributed to her mental struggles too; it is is a psychologically demanding sport, with such fine margins for error. Tom Daley is another diver who has spoken openly about his mental health after suffering from PTSD following the 2012 Olympic Games. 

It’s not just diving though and there is a huge mental health problem throughout sport. However, it is rare to find athletes willing to discuss their mental health, and so we are grateful to Alicia for being so open about her experiences in session #8, and we hope that the discussion will help other athletes who may be struggling.

Link in bio.

Not many people can say they’ve worked with Microsoft, the US Army, Manchester City and the England football team. Marc Sagal, a sports psychology consultant, has worked with all these organisations, plus many more.

Sport psychology is a developing field and it has come a long way since Marc began his career. Initially, Marc was met by scepticism; players and managers were reluctant to speak with a psychologist, but nowadays, more emphasis is placed on the mental side of sport and people like Marc are hired by elite professional sports teams across the world.

One of Marc’s most notable clients was Sven-Göran Eriksson, who enlisted Marc’s help in improving the mental state of his players at Manchester City, Leicester City and the England national team. In 2006, Marc received a call from Sven who asked him to advise his team on taking penalties at the World Cup in Germany. Marc was given just 48 hours to help the team psychologically prepare for a quarter-final against Portugal and ultimately, England lost the match in a shoot-out. Marc believes that, given more time, he could have improved the mental strength of that England team, and improve their chances of being successful at penalties.

In this session, Marc delves into other psychological obstacles in sport, and how he works with players to overcome them. He explains how the resumption of football, behind-closed-doors, provides several interesting psychological challenges for players and tells us what can be done to create the optimal mental state for an athlete.

We believe that the mental side of sport is incredibly important, and it doesn’t receive as much attention and coverage as it deserves, so we enjoyed speaking to someone with such expertise in this field, in session 7.

Asif Kapadia’s 2019 documentary shows that, ironically for a man with such gifted ball control, in Naples, almost everything else in Maradona's life progressively slipped from his grasp. The fame and notoriety that his unique talent brought, was sadly accompanied by unwanted and harmful attention from outside influences and as a result, his departure from Naples could not have been more different to the fanfare he was greeted with upon arrival in 1984. ⠀ ⠀ 

Too often, not enough attention is paid to the themes that ran beneath Maradona’s genius talent, contributing to his off-field demise. For our giveaway session, we invited on Jon Smith, Maradona's agent during his time in Naples, to divulge how the relationship between Maradona's genius-level talent and the Neapolitan Camorra, grew to become horribly dysfunctional. As Jon says, the answer may lie in the fact that there were two people: “there was Diego and there was Maradona.”⠀ ⠀ 

Jon’s powerful influence in helping to create the Premier League is something that is felt by football fans today and over the past two decades, having worked with Sky and Rupert Murdoch, Jon helped to enable the first true revolution of football. Jon's current view is that the most powerful man in football is now Mark Zuckerberg and in our giveaway with Jon, we are therefore able to chat to the man who played a part in football’s first revolution, about the next frontier to be pushed – the involvement of tech companies like Amazon and Google in football.⠀ ⠀ 

Jon's resume boasts a 25 year career that has seen him meet Donald Trump, deal with Vladimir Putin, and act on behalf of clients ranging from Ian Botham to Andrey Arshavin. Not surprisingly, it is a career that we’re incredibly happy to delve into in our most recent giveaway session.

Angus Scott, has presented football all around the world, working for ITV, Setanta Sports and more recently BeIN Sports.  With over 30 years experience covering the sport, Angus has seen the football broadcast landscape change dramatically; from one or two cameras at stadiums in the 1990s to the modern day package which sees 40+ cameras and a range of innovative technological features. 

In session #5,  Angus explains how football media has changed since he started, and what further innovations will be brought in as a result of the pandemic. Throughout his career, Angus has interviewed some of the sport’s biggest names, and more recently, on his BeIN Sport’s football show, Arsenal Wenger and Jose Mourinho are regular guests.  

Based in Qatar, BeIN Sports are one of the rising players in the football broadcast landscape. With a FIFA World Cup to be held in the country in just two years time, Qatar, and the Middle-East, has shown an increasing interest in sport in recent years, and Angus has been at the centre, presenting it all.