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 likely option. For some, this transition be pretty daunting; a completely new environment, in a new place, with new demands. Sofie breaks her research down to help players, staff and organisations understand the demands of going out on loan and how it can best be managed to support the well-being and performance of the player.

Thank you to Sofie for coming on! Click below to learn more about Sofie and her research

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofie-kent-ba2a3289/

Talking Points

1. Intro and welcome to episode (00:00)

2. Sofie's journey in sport (3:58)

3. 'Mental strength' (14:18)

4. Psychologist in a football academy (19:50)

5. The loan transition in football (36:40)

6. Main stressors for athletes on loan (46:15)

7. Recommendations from research (51:30)

8. 'Loan' focused roles in football (59:00)

9. Closing thoughts (1:05:00)

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 supported several others in the sporting context, including athletes, coaches and Sport Psychologist's to better understand clinical issues in sport.

As Sport Psychologist's working with athletes, there are issues that arise that lie outside of our areas of expertise. That's why it is crucial that we understand the role of a Clinical Psychologist and how we can utilise their expertise to best support the athlete. On the episode we discuss what the input of a Clinical Psychologist looks like in a football academy, when Sport Psychologist's may look to refer on to clinical support why it's important to be interested in other areas of psychology, plus much more!

We hope that this episode helps our listeners to differentiate between the role of a Sport Psychologist and Clinical Psychologist and conveys the importance of seeking other input.

We're grateful to finally get Fleur on the pod. Thanks for coming on Fleur!

Connect with Fleur at the below links:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drfleurmichelle?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet&igsh=ZDNlZDc0MzIxNw==

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fmcoiffait/

Talking Points

1. Intro and Welcome to Episode (00:00)

2. Getting into Clinical Psychology (4:10)

3.. Supporting Young Players (21:25)

4. When to Refer to Clinical Psych (34:30)

5. Working with Sport Psychs (51:00)

6. Closing Thoughts (1:03:30)

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 Cameroon and London. He has worked with a vast range of high performance professionals, including entrepreneurs, landscapers, physiotherapists and of course, footballers and athletes!

Nick's supports individuals to increase their emotional intelligence. He breaks emotional intelligence down into 3 clear points and shows us how he considers these through reference to a real life case study.

Increasing self - awareness on the emotions you are experiencing can help you to make sense of them. This then gives you more control around how you respond to them, promoting the chances of positive behaviour change to improve quality of life and performance. We hope this is the episode that sparks curiosity in the emotions you experience!

Thank you to Nick for coming. We got a lot of from this epsiode.

Please leave us a review if you enjoyed.

Find out more about Nick:

Website: https://nickatzeni.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-atzeni-538990a7/

Talking Points

1. Intro and Welcome to episode (00:00)

2. Nick's Journey (3:52)

3. What is EI? (6:29)

4. Individual Differences in EI (11:30)

5. Supporting Athletes with EI (15:50)

6. Questionnaires to Develop EI (27:01)

7. Case Study (36:15)

8. The Struggle to Identify Emotions (52:00)

9. Closing Thoughts (1:05:40)