Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton host a special episode of SportSpiel all about Time to Talk Day.

Joining the show to mark the day - held on February 4 - are British Olympic trap shooter Georgina Roberts as well as England and Northampton Saints rugby star George Furbank.

Brought to you in association with The Mintridge Foundation and the Royal Agricultural University, also joining the show for this episode is Lewis Bebb, RAU's Student Union President, and Charlie McMenemy, the SU's Campaigns and Welfare Officer.

During this episode our guests will explore the importance of Time to Talk Day as well as pick apart the issues of mental health awareness, particularly during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

With so many of us having our lives completely changed, lockdown has had a huge mental health impact on everybody in one way or another.

But ultimately throughout the conversation one point remains absolutely clear - it is always good to talk.

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Image credit: With thanks to The Mintridge Foundation

Music: Otis McDonald

Extended thanks go to The Mintridge Foundation and The Royal Agricultural University

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 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 the players to watch – but of course this last year has been anything but smooth thanks to a certain global pandemic.

To sum that up, the day we recorded this episode George was on his final day of self-isolation after a positive covid test – one of many positives that led to Northampton Saints temporarily having to close things down.

That’s just one of a number of frustrations that many of us are finding ourselves living with now that we’re back in the third national lockdown.

On this episode of the podcast George tells what it’s been like having to juggle sport with all things pandemic – but he also tells about his own development as a player, from starting out initially to that whirlwind call up to the England team.

And, as an ambassador for the Mintridge Foundation, he is someone who knows all too well what the power of sport can do. With kids across the country now facing home schooling again – physical exercise can’t be pushed to the side as a result of that.

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Image credit: With thanks to The Mintridge Foundation

Music: Otis McDonald

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 sport as they talk through their nominees and winners in four categories - best sporting moment (10:25), most inspiring moment (27:03), team of the year (41:25) and athlete of the year (56:23).

From the fantastic England Rugby performances, to Lewis Hamilton, to football coming back, these are SportSpiel's highlights of a truly unique year.

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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 - a competition that would be the pinnacle of their careers.

Of course, the global pandemic had other ideas with the Olympic Games postponed until next year.

But rather than let that delay disillusion them, the GB squad have turned that into a huge positive. It means they will have another year to prepare to fight for a medal at consecutive Games.

On this episode both Emily and Tess explain how they have used the time to educate themselves on social injustices and explore other passions outside of the playing field. 

Both of them are part of the Women's Sport Trust's #UNLOCKED campaign and they have also each launched exciting individual projects - Tess' Freesolo Hockey, and Emily's popular Cuppa N Natter podcast.

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Images: With thanks to GB Hockey

Music: Otis McDonald

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 Essex, who is also the founder of Changing Lives Community Services – a project dedicated to keeping vulnerable youngsters out of the hands of gangs and violence. David is no stranger to extraordinary journeys – he was once threatened by a six-year-old with a knife, which is partly what motivated him to step up and make a difference. But this football team has been a challenge like no other. Getting a group of players who don’t all speak the same language is difficult enough in itself but that’s made all the more harder by the discrimination that swirls them. According to David, the team have been plagued by incidents of racist abuse and further discrimination from some opponents – he has even had to invest in a video camera he feels he needs to protect his players.  As David says – racism is still happening every Sunday, and it’s something that needs kicking out of the game.

*** NOTE ***

SportSpiel also approached the Harlow and District Football League for a response but received it after episode production had concluded. You can find the response below:

League secretary, Alvyn Charles, said: "I am deeply saddened to hear that Mr Simmons has made these comments about the racism his team has experienced. 

"The two incidents that have been brought to my attention by Mr Simmons were deemed on both occasions to not be of a racist content. As HDFL is a multi-cultural league, if there were any forms of racism we instruct all teams that if/when it occurs we have procedures in place and always have informed the Essex FA who themselves would conduct their own investigation."

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Images: With thanks to Changing Lives FC

Music: Otis McDonald

Will Moulton hosts this episode of SportSpiel with We are Girls in Sport 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 are Girls in Sport are looking to increase the participation and retention of females in sport. 

There has been such a growth in women's sport recently - now is the time to keep pushing it more than ever.

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Will Moulton hosts this latest episode of The Women's Football Diary with Leicester City midfielder 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.

In this episode she takes us through the move back to her old team as well as leaving Reading without being able to say a proper goodbye.

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Image credit: With thanks to Remi Allen

Music: Dan Henig

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 she says those perceptions need to change. She’s had plenty of personal experience with going against the perceived norm - she knew herself that she was different from an early age, but it wasn’t until her football career took her outside of this country that she actually openly came out to her parents. A large part of that was that word again – the norm.

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Image credit: With thanks to Jules PR

Music: Dan Henig

Alasdair Hooper and Will Moulton host a special discussion episode on body image in women's sport, in association with The Mintridge Foundation and Limitless.

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 incredibly complex issue that impacts so many in sport and society - and it's widespread.
Just last week MPs warned that closing gyms during lockdown led to rise in people feeling insecure about their bodies.

According to an online poll by the Women and Equalities Committee two-thirds of under-18s and 61 per cent of adults feel negative or very negative about their body image most of the time.

Throughout this discussion so many things come to light - the problems with kit, the pressure to look a certain way and also the stereotype for women that being muscly means you might be gay.

But ultimately there is one massive takeaway everyone should be able to agree on. It's time we stopped forgetting about women in sport.

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Extended thanks go to The Mintridge Foundation and Limitless for organising this podcast

Music: Otis McDonald

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 much harder by the fact she was playing professionally for Reading in the WSL during those last two years.

But at the heart of that dedication, other than obviously wanting it for herself and her family, was to prove to other players that you didn’t have to go the States to get an education and play football. Pacheco herself even turned down a scholarship at Harvard in order to pursue her career at home.

Ultimately that decision also shows the pull power the WSL has in this country – not only is the league attracting players from abroad now, but it is also keeping players here.

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Credits

Image credit: With thanks to Forte Sports Management

Music: Dan Henig