Mastering the Mind Podcast

Ep. 29 | Double Paralympic Champion at 21 years old - Laurens Devos

Today we welcome Belgian professional table tennis player and 2X Paralympic Champion, Laurens Devos, to the podcast.✅Topics Discussed:

💪🏻 Laurens’ struggle of being taken seriously by his sport school as they did not see the value he would bring, being so young & due to his disability.
🌍His experience competing at the Rio Paralympics in 2016 at just 16 years old & winning gold.
🗣How he coped with the pressure of defending his title at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
🧠How he best prepares mentally before competition & how he resets mentally between points on the court.

Ep. 28 | Britain‘s Next 800m Talent - Keely Hodginkson

Today we welcome 800m runner and Tokyo 2020 Olympic silver medalist, Keely Hodgkinson, to the podcast.✅Topics Discussed:

👧Keely's background and introduction to track & field despite being a talented swimmer.
🏥Her experience stepping away from sports for months after getting surgery to remove a tumour in her ear and due to injury.
🥈Keely’s first Olympic experience after having competed at the recent Tokyo 2020 Olympics winning a silver medal at 19 years old.
🧠 Psychological qualities she believes are crucial which make a successful 800m runner.
😃 How she developed her growth mindset and remains calm in important moments and to not dwell on mistakes or on setbacks (+her pre-performance routine).

Ep. 27 | A Belgian Idol - Kevin Borlée

Today we welcome 4x time Olympian and Belgian 400m runner, Kevin Borlée, to the podcast.✅Topics Discussed:

🏃‍♂️How he got involved in athletics and what it is like being coached by his father.
👦👦What it was like competing alongside his twin brother and siblings & how their healthy rivalry has helped him become the athlete he is today.
🇺🇸Kevin’s experience moving to America to compete for Florida State University.
🤯His experience of competing at his first Olympics (Beijing, 2008), how he mentally coped with the stress of being at his first Games races.
🧠Kevin’s experience working with a sport psychologist to help him cope with pre-race nerves.
🤕About how he coped with injuries and the technique he used to overcome this difficult period.

Ep. 26 | Youngest MLS Coach & D.C. United Manager - Hernán Losada

Today we welcome D.C. United's Head Coach, Hernán Losada. Hernán is currently the youngest manager in the MLS. We begin the episode by speaking about Hernàn’s beginnings and how he fell in love with the sport of football (or should I say, ‘’soccer’’). Hernán then shares with us his story of how he made it through the ranks and dropped out of university to pursue his ambitions of becoming a professional footballer. After impressing scouts in Europe, Hernán packed his bags to leave South America and quickly found himself playing professionally in Belgium. We then speak about some setbacks and challenges he experienced during his career as a player and how goal setting helped him overcome these difficult periods, particularly when going through injury spells. Hernán then takes us through his transition of becoming a coach, his coaching philosophy and what managers he currently looks up to. Having an excellent awareness of the mental side of sport, Hernán gives us his thoughts about the types of psychological qualities he looks for in academy players and footballers when scouting for new players. He also provides us insight on what happens behind the scenes in the dressing room at half time and of the importance to not overload players with information during this crucial period of the game. Hernán also shares with us the realities of working in a high pressured job, being a head coach of a professional football club and how he goes about coping with this. We finish the episode by asking Hernán the questions you had for him. It was a true privilege to speak with such a high profile professional, a truly insightful episode. Thank you for coming on Hernán, it was a pleasure to speak with you.

Ep. 25 | KRC Genk Youth Talent Develop - Prince Musombo

Today we welcome KRC Genk's Youth Talent Developer, Prince Musombo.✅Topics Discussed:

⚽️Career of being a professional footballer, playing in various teams in Belgium (e.g., KV Mechelen, WhiteStar, Lierse SK) before moving to the UK to pursue his dream
👥 Signing for Barnet FC & being managed by Edgar Davids
🚑 Career & life changing experience after having collapsed during a cup match which causing Prince to prematurely retire due to health concerns & transitioned to coaching.
🔵 Journey of becoming a coach & about his current role at one of Belgium’s best football academies, KRC Genk.
🧠Prince’s role which revolves around guiding @ mentoring the youth players & help them find solutions to their problems on & off the pitch instead of being a conventional coach.
📱Social media & the potential stress-inducing effects it has on academy footballers.
⭐️His thoughts about the next talented generation of players coming through at Genk.
👶🏼Prince’s exciting project being the founder of Next Gen Football Camp & about his future goals & ambitions.

Ep. 24 | Funniest 400m Sprinter | Martyn Rooney

Today we welcome 400m sprinter & triple Olympian, Martyn Rooney to the podcast.✅Topics Discussed:

📈Martyn’s rapid rise in the world of professional athletics despite being still young.
🇨🇳His experience competing at his first Olympics in Beijing.
😅Some funny anecdotes about his experience at the different Olympics regarding Usain Bolt, Rapha Nadal and Ronaldinho.
🧠Psychological qualities Martyn believes are the most important which make a successful 400m sprinter.
🇬🇧Competing at the London 2012 Olympics in front of a home crowd & the pressures that come with it.

Ep. 23 | Leicester City Youth Assistant Coach | Stephen Kirby

Today we welcome Leicester City’s FC U18s Assistant Coach, Stephen Kirby, to the podcast. ✅Topics Discussed:

🏟Stephen’s coaching philosophy and style and what is it like being able to work at LCFC’s brand new training ground.
⚽️Psychological attributes and qualities he looks for as a coach in academy football players.
🧠 Stephen’s experience, as a coach, of working with a sport psychologist.
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿His thoughts on England’s Euro performance.

Ep. 22 | Olympic Bronze Medalist | Marilyn Okoro

Today we welcome double Olympian athlete, Marilyn Okoro, to the podcast. Marilyn takes us through where it all started and explains to us how she ended up in track and field. We then talk about Marilyn’s experiences competing at her first ever Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 and what it was like being awarded a bronze medal nearly a decade later for the 4x400m event due to other teams being disqualified. This lead us to talk about issues related to doping in athletics and the adverse repercussions this can have for the honest and clean athletes such as Marilyn. We then go onto explore Marilyn’s experience with injury and how she managed to cope during this mentally draining period in which she competed whilst in pain. We then go onto speak about Marilyn’s experience seeing a sport psychologist and other various support systems which helped her throughout her career. We finish off by talking about how Marilyn is experiencing this transition period she is currently going through after having recently retired just a few months ago from elite sports.

We cannot thank Marilyn enough for being so open and honest when speaking about her experiences and the realities of being a professional athlete as well as how she is currently coping with the transition out of elite sports through her recent retirement. A HUGE INSPIRATION! Thank you Marilyn!

Ep. 21 | Paralympic Bronze Medalist | Jack Hunter-Spivey

Hello everyone, today we welcome professional table tennis player and Paralympian, Jack Hunter-Spivey to the podcast who is set to compete this week at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics! ✅Topics Discussed:

🏓Growing up with cerebral palsy & how he fell in love with the sport of table tennis. 🗣Encounter with Tony Edge who taught Jack to love his disability, he was determined to make it at the highest level.
🙌🏼Jack’s progression rapidly through the ranks & having just missed a chance to compete at the London 2012 Paralympics.
🧠Experience of suffering from depression, something Jack is extremely vocal about & hopes to inspire other athletes to talk more about mental health issues.
🇧🇷Experience competing at Rio & what Jack learned from that experience, making him realise the importance of the mental side of sport which he is now working on with a sport psychologist

Ep. 20 | Belgium Record Goal Scorer | Tessa Wullaert

Hi guys, today we have a huge episode for you as we welcome Tessa Wullaert to the podcast!

⚽️ Tessa’s journey in becoming Belgium’s all-time top scorer & captain. 
🌎 Playing in different European countries; Wolfsburg, Manchester City & Anderlecht. 
⚽️Adapting to the different styles of football and cultures
🧠Coping with social media abuse, not starting games, being a captain, and low confidence as a striker.
👧 Ambitions after football being the founder of @grlpwr.by.tw where she coaches young girls in football camps providing them with a space allowing them to express themselves freely and empowering them to pursue their dreams and aspirations.