Sportspiel

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton host SportSpiel’s Review of the Year 2021. The past 12 months have proven to be another turbulent year as we began 2021 in lockdown and end it with the emergence of Omicron. But from a sporting sense, there was so much to shout about with many fans being treated to moments of greatness. While many events were unrecognisable – a fan-less Olympic Games as an example – the athletes showcased their dedication once again and gave us some sense of escapism. In this episode Alasdair and Will look back on the year in sport as they talk through their nominees and winners in four categories – best sporting moment (5:30), most inspiring moment (22:17), team of the year (39:59) and athlete of the year (xx:xx). Whether it’s a celebration of England’s Red Roses, or reminiscing on the remarkable Emma Raducanu, these are SportSpiel’s highlights of another topsy-turvy year. Messages Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/SportSpielPod?lang=en Like us on Facebook - https

Alasdair Hooper hosts the latest episode of SportSpiel featuring British kiteboarder Aaron Hadlow. While it may be a powerful description, it’s fair to say Aaron is something of a pioneer in his sport. The 33-year-old is a five-time world champion and has been dominant in kiteboarding since 2004. But the transformation the sport has experienced in that time has been massive and Aaron has played a key part in that. The enthusiasm he has for pushing his sport shines through in this podcast interview, the passion is unmistakeable and that’s obviously a key factor to his success when he has been involved for so long. Aaron spoke to SportSpiel in the lead-up to the Red Bull King of the Air competition, taking place between November 18 and December 3 out in Cape Town in South Africa. It’s a competition Aaron has won twice, in 2015 and 2016, and he will certainly be looking to reclaim his crown. But away from that competition he gives us a rundown all about his sport in this podcast episode as w

Will Moulton hosts the latest episode of SportSpiel with returning guest - and Paralympic champion - Laura Sugar. For most people the chance to represent your country in just one sport would be enough.  But Laura has had the chance to do it across three different events. After playing hockey for Wales, and then transitioning into athletics where she represented Team GB at the Rio Paralympics, she then became a world-class para-canoe athlete. At Tokyo 2020, barely 24 months after setting her first paddle in the water in anger, she became Paralympic champion before going on to win a world title just two weeks later. In her return to the podcast we focus on how her saying 'yes' has helped her achieve that incredible double gold. The Mintridge Foundation ambassador also talks about the need to increase awareness around para-sport and disabilities in general, and how we can help children realise that elite athletes are human - and what they do can be emulated. Messages Follow us on Twitter - h

Will Moulton hosts the latest episode of SportSpiel with Olympic gold medallist Kate French. The Modern Pentathlon star was part of a historic moment at Tokyo 2020 when her gold medal, along with fellow Brit Joe Choong’s own brilliant win, meant it was the first time a nation had claimed victory in both the men’s and women’s event. The fierce competitor is a humble individual however, in her words, while some people may excel in one of the five disciplines within Modern Pentathlon she likes to say she’s ‘average in all of them’. What certainly isn’t average is what Kate French has been able to do for her sport and that only looks set to continue in the future. On this episode of the podcast, she tells all about how she got into one of the most unique sports in the world and how spending time with a previous Olympic medallist inspired her to drive for the sport’s greatest stage. She also gives us a detailed rundown of how she took gold out in Tokyo and why it is so important to inspire the next g

Modern pentathlete Joe Choong was one of the stars of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The 26-year-old stormed to victory to become the first ever British man to win gold in the Modern Pentathlon.  It came after fellow Brit Kate French won gold in the women’s event to make it a truly historic moment – the first time a nation has won both. For Joe that completed a mammoth journey, from – in his words – messing up at Rio 2016, to having to deal with the pandemic and all the stresses and mental battles that came with it. But Joe is not going to let this moment pass by – it’s one he wants to seize so he can push Modern Pentathlon as a sport far and wide.  Momentum is a powerful thing after all and that incredible performance out in Tokyo could help pave the way for the next stars of the sport to come through.  It was a real pleasure to welcome Joe onto this episode of SportSpiel, as we touch on the journey to gold, the mental battles that came with it and the Modern Pentathlon brotherhood. Messages

Alasdair Hooper hosts the latest episode of SportSpiel with Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Mallory Franklin. The canoe slalom paddler has every right to be recognised for what she has achieved in her sport. In 2018, she became Britain’s most successful female canoeist and she is a former C1 European and World Cup champion. She followed up that Tokyo silver medal with a K1 World Cup silver medal at the start of September. Behind the scenes however she is a real perfectionist, and that can sometimes be a real detriment to how much pressure you put on yourself and the anxiety that goes with it. When lockdown one hit at the start of the pandemic, that enforced break led Mallory into unpicking the reasons behind that anxiety and getting her mind into a better place. Much of this episode homes in on the mental side as Mallory opens up and takes us through her journey to appreciating and being in the moment, as well as learning to separate self-worth from your performance. She also tells us about the eq

Alasdair Hooper hosts the latest episode of SportSpiel with former Peterborough United footballer Bobby Copping. Just over a year ago, in July 2020, the Peterborough youngster went up for a routine header in training. He landed and his vision went. He’d suffered a mini seizure and went on to spend four days recovering in hospital. The defender hoped it was a one-off incident and he fought his way back to full fitness. But, in his comeback game, he went for a header in the warm-up and it happened again. At the age of 19 Bobby was forced to retire as a result. Unsurprisingly, that was an incredibly tough thing to deal with having worked so hard up until that point in his career only for it all to be turned upside down. With one header it had all ended. Bobby takes us through those events in this episode of the podcast as well as the incredible mental challenge that came after that sudden retirement. But he has also worked relentlessly to move forward in life and, with the help of Peterbor

Will Moulton hosts the latest episode of SportSpiel with GB Wheelchair Basketballer Sophie Carrigill. Ten years ago, at the age of 16, Sophie was involved in a car accident that changed her life forever. She initially struggled with the change to her identity but she has since transformed herself into a motivational, and inspirational, individual. Sophie is one of the stars of the British Wheelchair Basketball team and has played a key role in their rise, including a World Championship silver medal as well as their first ever Paralympic semi-final at Rio 2016.  But she also plays a key part off the court as a driver for greater accessibility, inclusion and opportunity for disabled people in sport and life.  She's also a passionate advocate for equality for female athletes. Her efforts have been recognised far and wide - her inclusion in the Forbes 30 under 30 list is just one example of that - and she was also among the first cohort of athletes in the Women's Sport Trust's Unlocked programme

Sonny Pike was the wonderkid that had it all. He was the gifted young footballer destined to be a star, until it all came crashing down to earth. His reputation during the 1990s exploded and there was immeasurable hype that came with it. Dutch giants Ajax had swooped on him, he was touted as English football’s Diego Maradona and his legs were insured for £1million at the age of 11. Coca Cola, McDonald’s and Paul Smith all queued to sponsor him, and he appeared on TV shows like Fantasy Football and Blue Peter. But bubbles tend to burst. If his rise to fame was quick, then the speed with which it was all taken away was double time. It all unravelled to such a point where the footballing boy wonder was stood on top of a bridge – known locally as Suicide Bridge – contemplating ending it all aged 15. These days Sonny Pike is a London taxi driver living in Hertfordshire, and he runs his own football academy just off the M25. Sonny is the ultimate cautionary tale for child footballing prodigies and

Alasdair Hooper hosts the fifth and final Mental Health Awareness Week episode all about mental health and nature. Joining the podcast for the discussion are GB steeplechaser Iona Lake and Christina Colmer McHugh, the Director of Moodbeam. Considering the last year we have faced, with the ongoing Covid pandemic, many of us have spent more time indoors than ever before. It's no surprise, then, that this year the theme of Mental Health Awareness Week is nature. Listen to the podcast below Research from the Mental Health Foundation found that 45% of people had reported being in green spaces had been vital for their mental health and this is the topic we are tapping into on this episode - to find out just how vital the great outdoors is. Christina and Iona also share their own experiences and their own ways of helping to balance their mental health. If you are struggling with your mental health here are some organisations who can help Samaritans: Phone 116 123, 24 hours a day, or email jo@

Alasdair Hooper hosts the fourth Mental Health Awareness Week episode all themed around mental health and sport in the LGBTQ community. Joining the podcast for the discussion are Karina Murray, of Sporting Pride Ireland, Assistant Editor at Goal, Emma Smith, and also Martin Stark, the CEO and founder of the World Gay Boxing Championships. Of course, being from the LGBTIQ+ community doesn't mean you will automatically have issues with your mental health. However, a recent Stonewall study found that over the previous year half of LGBTIQ+ people had experienced depression and three in five had experienced anxiety. One in eight LGBTIQ+ people aged 18-24 had attempted to end their life and almost half of trans people half thought about taking their life. Each one of our guests also has their own story to tell. For Mark, he didn't come out until the age of 27 and he came close to dying in 2017 from Addison's Disease, an experience that prompted him to take a self-defence class and then boxing that

Alasdair Hooper hosts the third Mental Health Awareness Week special episode with commentator Chris Murphy on addiction recovery, depression and Sporting Chance. Chris knows what it’s like to decide to make the unthinkable decision. At the heart of it was a crippling gambling addiction, after first placing a bet at the age of 17, as well as a battle with depression. For years the gambling and the depression consumed him and it eventually culminated in Chris deciding to take his own life. Thankfully that unsuccessful attempt sparked things into action and led to his road to recovery. But recovery is tough, really tough, and if there’s one key message Chris wants to get there you don’t just magically get better. There are relapses, those battles still linger, but considering where Chris is now he has made some inspiring progress. Chris is also the Gambling and Education Facilitator at Sporting Chance, the charity that was set up by former Arsenal Captain Tony Adams who himself battled with

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton host the second of our Mental Health Awareness Week episodes all about mental health in the media. Joining them are Ryan Conway, The Athletic's Derby County writer, Tommy Wathen, the Sport Social Media Editor for the Mirror, Express and Star, as well as Rebecca Myers of The Sunday Times. Working in journalism and the media comes with incredible opportunities. The days are fast-paced, you get to speak to remarkable people and you can make a difference with your voice or your words. But it also comes with significant struggles - the long hours, risk of burnout, stress and also social media abuse. Mental health in journalism isn't often talked about but - particularly in the pandemic - it's something that needs a spotlight shone onto it. It's one of the reasons why the website Newsbreak was created during the pandemic as a place for journalists to share their mental health stories. There hasn't been a proper conversation and, with most of us trading newsrooms for o

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton host the first episode of our Mental Health Awareness Week series on addiction with Russell Pearce and Patrick Foster. Addiction is a major problem in the UK and former Welsh boxer Russell, and former cricketer Patrick, know that better than most having suffered from alcohol and gambling addictions respectively. In Russell's case his addiction essentially cost him is gambling career while for Patrick, his gambling pushed him into almost doing the unthinkable. To sum up the state of the problem, in the first nine months of 2020 deaths from alcohol hit record levels in England and Wales - 5460.  That is a 16.4% increase on the same period in 2019. In July 2020, a House of Lords report titled 'Gambling Harm - Time for Action' found that half of adults in the UK gamble at least once a month. A third of a million UK citizens are 'problem' or 'disordered' gamblers and it is estimated that for every problem gambler, six other people are harmed by the breakup of fami

Alasdair Hooper hosts this episode of SportSpiel with guest Emily Borthwick. The high jumper had quite the debut for Team GB as she starred at the European Indoor championships back in March this year. She recorded a four-centimetre personal best of 1.91 to qualify for the high jump final and finish eight in Europe. But at the heart of that insane result – combined with the hard work and the determination – was the mental side of the game. As Emily puts it in this episode it was the decision to just be good. Prior to her third attempt at the Indoors her coach Fuzz Caan told her to ‘change her emotion, not her technique.'  That emphasised just how much the performance was down to the mental side – and it all clicked into place. On this podcast Emily takes us through that performance, and how everything mentally is now clicking into gear after years of just missing out and 'holding herself back'.  She also tells us what her aims are for the future and also her role with Totally Runable,

Alasdair Hooper hosts the latest episode of SportSpiel with 2018 MXGP World Champion Jeffrey Herlings. In this wide-ranging chat the motocross star takes us through his childhood and the horrifying crash that derailed his 2020 season. Herlings was the red-hot favourite for last year’s MXGP world championship title but it all changed in September when he was involved in that head-first crash in free practice at the Grand Prix of Citta di Faenza in Italy.   The impact was so powerful the Dutchman was unable to move, and he lay motionless on the track. In his words he thought that was going to be game over and that he might have been paralysed.   Thankfully – Herlings’ injuries were not as bad as first feared, he was incredibly lucky and he knows it. But that crash has changed his outlook on life, and his outlook on how he approaches racing for the Red Bull KTM Factory Racing team.   With the 2021 campaign scheduled to start in a couple of months all focus is now on winning the world championship again, but

Will Moulton hosts the latest episode of SportSpiel with Saracens and England star Zoe Harrison. In a wide-ranging interview with the Women's Six Nations now underway, Zoe discusses her experiences of playing rugby at school and getting one over the bullies in recent years. From her perspective one vital piece of advice is to not take any notice of those trying to put you down. Zoe also takes us through how much women's rugby has grown and also what it's like in England camps, including the odd bit of Xbox. She also talks about England in the Six Nations as well as the postponed Rugby World Cup, now set to be held in in 2022. Messages Follow us on Twitter - https://twitter.com/SportSpielPod?lang=en Like us on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SportSpielPod/ Follow us on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/sportspielpod/ Get in touch: sportspielpod@gmail.com Visit our website: sportspielonline.com Find out more about The Bear - https://www.thebear.live/ Find out about our partne

T38 sprinter Sophie Hahn has already achieved so much by the age of 24. Back in 2018 her gold medal in the T38 100m at the Commonwealth Games meant she became the first female track and field athlete to win the grand slam - namely holding gold medals in the same event from the Paralympics, World Championships, European Championships and also the Commonwealths. Her rise has been rapid, ever since she was first inspired to take up the sport off the back of the London 2012 Paralympic Games. From there Sophie quickly became one to watch, winning gold in the T38 100m World Championships in 2013. 2016 was arguably the year she announced herself to even more British sports fans with that gold at Rio 2016 in particular. Fast forward to now and she is the proud owner of a Paralympic gold, seven World golds, six European golds and also two world records to boot. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many would be happy enough to settle for just that but Sophie is not one of those individuals. This is an athlete dri

Katie Milner is one determined racing driver making waves in motorsport. She is the first female to be on the McLaren Driver Development Program, was the first female Junior Saloon Car Champion in 2016 and she also won the inaugural British Women Racing Drivers gold star driver award. But, as she has moved up through the motorsport ranks, questions about being a women in motorsport inevitably come along. But that isn't something that phases her. In Katie's view,'we all look the same, we've got our helmet and overalls on, so we should all be classed as racing drivers'. In this episode of SportSpiel the racer joins the podcast in an exciting week, where it was announced she would be racing for Team Rocket RJN in the British GT Championship. It's the perfect way to get 2021 up and running after the disruption of 2020 caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. It's been a long wait to finally get back out on the track, but that looks to finally be coming to an end soon. She also explains in this epi

Deaf footballer Fil Kamps has had quite the career. He’s competed for Great Britain at the World Cup, the Deaflympics and he is also a British Deaf Football Cup, English Deaf Football Cup and English Deaf Football League winner. That’s a lot of success to enjoy, and to be proud of, for the now 27-year-old. Turning out for his country in particular – a dream he had held ever since he was a boy - is a particular highlight. But the journey to realising your dream is never a straight one, and for Fil it was no different. There are always plenty of bumps and plenty of setbacks along the way. For Fil, one particular moment stands out strongly to this day as he was one of the final players cut from the GB squad ahead of the European Championships in 2015. It was a gut-wrenching moment, it broke him and felt like he had let others down. But that setback arguably fuelled the comeback – as he went on to work even harder, desperate to achieve his dream and turn out to play football for his country. With