SportSpiel

Alasdair Hooper hosts the first SportSpiel episode of 2021 with Northampton Saints and England full-back George Furbank. The last 12 months have been quite the ride for the 24-year-old. Just under a year ago - January 20, 2020 to be exact – he received his first call up to the England squad (https://sportspielonline.com/tag/england-rugby/) for the Six Nations before making his debut against France for Eddie Jones’ side. After that rapid rise to the international setup he has become one of...

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton host SportSpiel's Review of the Year 2020. The past 12 months have proven to be a year like no other - as major sporting events were cancelled and our lives were completely altered - but one constant has been the enjoyment of sport in our lives. For many of us it has kept us going and there have still been some fantastic highlights to look back on this year, despite the pandemic's unpredictability. In this episode Alasdair and Will look back on the year in...

Will Moulton hosts the latest episode of SportSpiel with GB Hockey stars Emily Defroand and Tess Howard. Like many athletes both Emily and Tess were gearing up towards Tokyo 2020, along with the rest of the GB Hockey team (https://sportspielonline.com/tag/great-britain-ice-hockey/) - a competition that would be the pinnacle of their careers. Of course, the global pandemic had other ideas with the Olympic Games (https://sportspielonline.com/tag/olympic-games/) postponed until next year. But...

Changing Lives FC are a football team with a story. Every training session, and during every game, you can hear around a dozen different languages – that’s because each member of the squad is a migrant, refugee or asylum seeker. All of them have fled war, terror or they are in desperate search for a better life. They are all young men who would be extremely vulnerable if left to fend for themselves. Joining us on this podcast is their manager David Simmons, a PE teacher living in Harlow, in...

Will Moulton hosts this episode of SportSpiel with We are Girls in Sport (https://www.wearegirlsinsport.com/) founders Caroline Kings and Jo Wimble-Groves. The pair have an identical vision on the importance of sport to girls and that was how We are Girls in Sport was born in early 2020. The global movement looks to share the stories and remarkable achievements of girls and women in every sport you could possibly imagine. Put simply, you have to seem them to be them and through that ethos We...

Will Moulton hosts this latest episode of The Women's Football Diary with Leicester City midfielder Remi Allen (https://sportspielonline.com/tag/remi-allen/) . In her third appearance on the podcast Remi reflects on the last few months as she returned to Leicester City 10 years after leaving the club where she first came through. Much has changed since then as Leicester are now a full-time professional outfit after being taken over by King Power and coming under the same banner as the men....

Alasdair Hooper hosts the latest episode of The Women's Football Diary with Aston Villa defender Anita Asante. The England international, and former Arsenal and Chelsea player, is one of the most successful players around but her journey has coincided with plenty of personal realisations along the way. Right now she is homing in on the norm, or rather society’s perception of what is normal. That ranges from body image to the current situation around the Black Lives Matter movement and is why...

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton host a special discussion episode on body image in women's sport, in association with The Mintridge Foundation (https://sportspielonline.com/tag/mintridge-foundation/) and Limitless (https://www.limitlesskit.com/) . Joining us to pick apart the issue and share their own experiences are Olympic gold medal-winning Great Britain hockey captain Kate Richardson-Walsh as well as England Rugby internationals Justine Lucas and Zoe Harrison. Body image is an...

Alasdair Hooper hosts the fourth episode of The Women's Football Diary with West Ham United defender Maz Pacheco. The USA scholarship system has long been a huge draw for promising women’s footballers in this country – but Pacheco did things her own way. Eleven days after signing for West Ham in the summer, the left-back graduated from Sheffield University with a law degree. That was the culmination of three years of incredibly hard work. A law degree is no easy feat anyway but it was made...

Alasdair Hooper hosts the third episode of The Women's Football Diary with former Wolfsburg, PSG and FC Rosengard forward Ella Masar. Masar is currently on one of the biggest journeys of her life right now as she currently gets to grips with being a mum for the very first time alongside her partner, Real Madrid defender Babett Peter. Their son was born earlier in September and, just as with any new parents, it is sure to be challenge particularly with the small matter of a global pandemic...

Alasdair Hooper hosts the second episode of The Women's Football Diary with Reading and former Chelsea defender Deanna Cooper. In the podcast, Cooper reflects on her journey in football from being a 'nobody' in football to becoming the surprise package of the WSL Spring Series for Chelsea. But after that high came a devastating ACL injury which ruled her out for a majority of the following season - and it proved difficult to break back into the Blues' starting XI. Now with her new side,...

Alasdair Hooper hosts the first episode of The Women's Football Diary with Wales' record goalscorer Helen Ward (https://sportspielonline.com/2020/09/10/the-womens-football-diary-helen-ward/) . In an open conversation the Watford captain tells us about her career, including the biggest challenge of them all - motherhood. The 34-year-old is a mum of two and also explains just how tough it was to get back to playing after becoming a mum in the first place. Ward also tells us about life in...

Will Moulton hosts this latest episode of SportSpiel (https://sportspielonline.com/) with Scotland Rugby stars Rhona Lloyd and Sarah Bonar. Alongside their exploits in rugby the duo are also known for hosting the Women Who Sport (http://www.womenwhosport.com/) podcast, designed to raise the platform and showcase the journeys of talented women in sport. In this episode the pair take us through their sport and what makes it truly inclusive for everyone regardless of their body size as well as...

Open water swimmer Alice Dearing is often asked the same questions about being the black swimmer from Britain. According to figures from Sport England, 95% of black adults and 80% of black children in England do not swim. Meanwhile just 1% of registered competitive swimmers with Swim England identify as black or mixed race. Those numbers mean that 23-year-old Alice has essentially become the poster girl for black swimming. It’s a role she takes in her stride. She co-founded the Black...

When you ask Livvy Breen what her biggest challenge has been the answer is almost like a reflex - Rio 2016 Going into those Paralympic Games, Livvy was one of the breakout stars to watch but things didn’t exactly go to plan. Yet from that lowest low came her highest high. The Rio experience led to her changing coach, changing her training location and essentially changing her life. 10 months later she became World Champion. These days Livvy is one of the most recognisable British athletes...

This weekend's episode of SportSpiel is a little bit different - but arguably one of our most important shows. On July 10 we hosted a live panel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXxop7dbciU) organised by our wonderful charity partners The Mintridge Foundation (https://www.mintridgefoundation.org.uk/) as part of their 28NotOut campaign – all about Mental Health and sport. The event was held to raise money for the Max Hunter fund...

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton host this special episode with former cricketer Patrick Foster as part of The Mintridge Foundation’s #28NotOut (https://themintridgefoundation.enthuse.com/cf/28-not-out---the-max-hunter-fund) – raising money for the Max Hunter Fund (https://themintridgefoundation.enthuse.com/cf/28-not-out---the-max-hunter-fund) . This is one of the most eye-opening and honest accounts we have ever hosted on this podcast as Patrick takes us through his journey with a severe...

Katie Taylor needs no introduction to sports fans. The two-weight World Champion is a boxing pioneer, transcends her sport in ways few can match and has inspired thousands of people. One of those thousands was a 16-year-old Shamrock Rovers footballer who dreamt of playing for Arsenal - Gráinne Walsh. After meeting Taylor, the now 24-year-old was inspired to take up the sport and, just four years later, they were competing on the same team as each other. It's the perfect example of how a role...

Depression, anxiety, stress and self-doubt – these are just some of your mind’s monsters. It’s something Hazel Gale is all too familiar with, having been plagued by her doubting voice during her boxing and kickboxing career. The voice is one thing, but it’s the impact it has on the rest of the body that proved to be her undoing. Hazel was petrified of looking weak and that fear took over. It resulted in overtraining, chronic fatigue, stress and depression. Eventually boxing ‘broke her’....

Will Moulton hosts this SportSpiel feature interview with England cricketers - and best friends - Alex Hartley (https://twitter.com/AlexHartley93?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor) and Kate Cross (https://twitter.com/katecross16) . Together Alex and Kate host the No Balls podcast (https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/no-balls-the-cricket-podcast/id1490769536) and they give us an insight into how their popular podcast came about. We also hear the origins of some of the...