Sport Psychology - supervision fees support

Aim

Help the next generation of athletes and sportspeople - psychology supervised practice fees,

My childhood dream was to be a footballer. Although I knew by my early 20s I wasn't going to be a pro footballer being a sportsperson was a key part of my identity. Then at 25 I tore my ACL. My sense of who I was shifted, unable to do the thing I loved I felt a bit lost.

So I pursued a career in design, running (or rather limping) as far away from sport as I could. But I couldn’t escape the thought that if only I’d had someone to help me through the wellbeing and psychological impact of what had happened the outcome could have been very different.

And over the years that nagging thought pushed me towards helping other sports people and athletes. Despite the challenges of raising a young family, financial pressures and working full time (plus being considerably older than other students) I self-funded my way through a psychology degree. I then completed a psychology masters and I’m now close to finishing my PhD in Social Psychology. To date this has cost me around £12,000.

But I have one aim pushing me forward - to focus on the wellbeing aspects of sport, such transitions in sport like injury, retirement, or having to leave a sport. No athlete or sportsperson needs to suffer in the way I did.

Now I’ve reached a point where I’m close to achieving this but there’s one more step.

To become a fully qualified sport and exercise psychologist I have to work with clients while under the supervision of an experienced practitioner who is registered with the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (BASES). This is exactly what I want to do and where I can make the most difference. But it’s a 2-3 year process where I have to pay my supervisor and BASES.

I can’t work full time while doing this and have no further avenues to explore for funding or borrowing. It would be easy to see this as someone asking for a handout, but I hope you’ll view your donation as supporting the next generation of athletes and sportspeople. Your help could help me guide the next Ronaldo or Usain Bolt.

If you can donate over £500, you’ll get a one-hour sports and exercise psychology session focussed on wellbeing – either face to face or online depending on your location. It could be a transformative experience for you as a sportsperson or for your organisation.

Thank you, a share on social media is as good as a donation.

This project closed unsuccessfully on 1st July 2022