I’m delighted to speak with Ray Power in this episode. Ray is a coach developer and best-selling author of 10 soccer coaching books. He is also the Technical Director of the largest football academy in South Asia.

Ray has coached at every level of football, from youth at risk to elite youth internationals. He achieved his UEFA A Licence in 2012 and has worked in youth football development all over the world since, including with the FA, Sunderland AFC and Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protishtan (BKSP), the national sports institute of Bangladesh.

Ray’s series of soccer coaching books combine to make him the best-selling football coaching author globally. Ray works with every level of coach through Ray Power Coach Education, offering webinars, 1:1 mentoring and football curriculum development.

I’m delighted to speak with Prof Mike Wilson in this episode. Mike has over 16 years of dedicated expertise in the mental health field. Serving as both a professor and mental performance coach, Mike has collaborated with international governments, leading international bodies like the United Nations and the World Bank, law enforcement agencies, and a diverse range of global sports organisations. Their impactful work includes championing mental health as a human right, providing psychological capacity building for refugees and lower-income communities, facilitating essential support through hygiene distributions for marginalised groups, engaging in post-war peace-building via sports initiatives, and advancing community development through potable water projects.

Mike shares his knowledge and experiences as a sport psychologist touching on areas such as growth mindset, challenge and threat states, resilience and explanatory styles.

I’m delighted to speak with Ben Franks in this episode. Ben is a people developer and Senior Lecturer in Applied Coaching Sciences at Oxford Brookes University. Ben has been at Oxford Brookes since 2021 after holding various teaching positions at The University Campus of Football Business and at Canterbury Christ Church University.

Ben also consults and coaches at a variety of organisations. He is Head of Youth and Junior Football at Sevenoaks Town FC.

His areas of expertise are Ecological Approaches to Perception, Action and Cognition, Non-Linear Pedagogy and Human Movement and Skill Development. Ben is currently undertaking a PhD.