A Bit About Who You Will Be Working With...

My Story

From the Rugby Pitch to Performance Psychology

I played Rugby for sixteen years. Not because I was the most talented player on the pitch. I never was, at any stage. No blistering pace, no unreal footwork, not even immense strength compared to other players. What I had, was work ethic. I had an attitude of refusing to switch off, and a genuine love for the game that kept me going long after easy reasons to quit piled up. This served me well. Very well in fact... Until it didn't. 

​

That work ethic took me further than I had any right to expect. A sport scholarship to Seaford College, a very good college that was far from where I came from and what me and my family were used to. Very unfamiliar, very new, and very out my comfort zone. This then opened the door for University. This door defiantly was not an option previously, in fact I was the first in my family to attend. This then allowed me to pursue a masters, then my accreditation, and now a career where I help people achieve their potential, even if they see themselves at capacity. Sport didn't just shape how I perform, it shaped my entire life. 

​

I toured captained and Argentina with Sussex County, I toured San Diego with Leeds Beckett University, I competed at BUCs Super Rugby and National League levels. In all of that, I found a deep passion and interest for how my brain both enhanced and held back my performance, which grew into a fascination on how this works with everyone else. 

​

The Switch...

As a hooker, the lineout throw was my responsibility. I took it seriously. Looking back, perhaps obsessively (this ultimately would not help me, and I do not promote it as a positive). I would spend hours in the park, throwing at a basketball hoop. I would not allow myself to leave until i had hit ten, fifteen, sometimes twenty perfect throws in a row. Miss one at nineteen? Start again. Stay until it's right.

​

By any measure, I should have been elite right? The hours were in, the reps were there, I was "obsessed" enough... right?

​

And yet in matches, under real pressure and in front of people who I felt mattered, my accuracy would drop off a cliff. I didn't understand why then, but I do now. It was performance anxiety, and the detriment of perfectionist traits. It was the gap between training in isolation and performing when it counts, highlighted and made clear for all to see. This is the same gap almost every serious athlete I work with is trying to navigate. 

​

That experience, and many others like it, isn't just one reason (of many) why I got into sport psychology. At the risk of being a bit direct, it is (one reason) why I am good at it.

The Turning Point

I studied at Hartpury University with ambitions of playing professional Rugby. Sport psychology wasn't in the plan even remotely, even at this stage. But somewhere between my BSc and the pitch, something shifted for me. I became more interested in why athletes perform the way they do, than in performing myself. I finished with first class honours (a shock to everyone, and myself), and moved to Leeds to study my MSc in Psychology of Sport and Exercise, while playing BUCS Super Rugby and National League level Rugby, while working as an assistant teacher and Rugby Analyst working across leagues including prem, national, and super rugby matches. By the time I finished, I knew exactly what I wanted to do. 

​

I am now, a Psychological Performance Coach, and working towards HCPC registration as a Sport and Exercise Psychologist through the CASES SEPAR pathway, under supervision from my fantastic supervisor and his ASPIRE programme. I have worked with athletes across Rugby, endurance running, combat sports, cross-fit, Hockey, and more at varying levels from aspirational academy/grassroots, semi-professional, and even national level. 

​