Off the record

A look at the sport psychology stories I couldn't cover in 2024 - and what they tell us about teams' commitment to mental health and performance

Directors running scared of appointing sport psychologists. Coaches banished to the stands by backroom teams. Governing body incompetence so rank it threatened a sport's culture. Just three of the off-the-record stories I was told about - but couldn't cover - in 2024.

Confidential conversations about what's going on across the psychology profession crop up quite regularly at the end of interviews. I'll never disclose the details of those discussions, such as the names of athletes, coaches or teams, but I can talk in broad-brush terms about the insight these chats have given me.

In this week's post, I'm focusing on three examples which I think give a real flavour of some of the issues affecting sport psychologists, coaches, performance directors and, of course, athletes.