Unsung

This is the Unsung podcast, introducing the sports stars you don’t know, telling the stories you can’t miss.

In this episode, we meet and tell the story of one of the most influential people in sport in the 21st century.

But this person isn’t a player, nor a coach, nor a big-money investor.

He’s a computer scientist.

He didn't need trophies, the ear of powerful politicians, or a billion-dollar bank account to make his mark. Just some nifty cameras and a few lines of code.

His name is Paul Hawkins, and he’s the man who invented Hawk-Eye and changed sport forever.

In the episode, he describes the three sliding doors moments in sport – one in cricket, one in tennis, and the other in football – responsible for paving the gradual then sudden path towards AI. And we also discuss sport’s most controversial subject: VAR…

Quotes:

Paul Hawkins, Hawk-Eye Innovations

"I ended up losing at Henley. I was in the university A four and we lost to the university B four, which we should never have done. I think I've probably learned as many life lessons through sports disappointments. Many years later, I'm still a little bit bitter about it!"

"I had 5,000 pounds, which is all the capital investment Hawk-Eye has ever had. And with that I developed a brochure, and went out to paint the vision gauge the interest."

“Then my bit of luck came, that with the last bit of my 5,000 pounds, I managed to get on test match special. Ironically, Jonathan Agnew's not been the biggest fan of Hawkeye but if it wasn't for him, it probably never would've happened.”

"Credibility takes a long time to build up and a short amount of time to lose.”

"If it wasn’t for Frank Lampard’s goal, maybe football would still be without technology."

"If you had a podcast with five or six people, they'd all have different ideas about the right way to improve VAR. And the reality is, until you actually try some things, you don't know the consequences of doing it. The ideas I've put into onto the table is to make [VAR] a challenge system."

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The Twinning Project

https://www.twinningproject.org/

Sponsor Paul and Josh Hawkins

https://www.justgiving.com/page/scholarshipfreshmen-1712243230533

Pre-order Off-Field Volume #1! 

www.off-field.net

(Use code MORPETH2025 for 10% discount)

Buy Unsung: Not All Heroes Wear Kits, by Alexis James

www.unsungbook.com

More from Off-Field

Unsung is an Off-Field production, bringing you the untold and unsung in audio, digital, and 

print. To enjoy more of our storytelling head to www.off-field.net

Episode credits

Writing & Narration: Alexis James

Guest: Paul Hawkins

Producer: Matt Cheney

Artwork: Matt Walker

Mentioned in this episode:

Introducing Off Field Volume 1 – A New Anthology from UNSUNG

Before we return to the episode, discover Off Field Volume 1—the first print anthology from the team behind UNSUNG. Across 250 beautifully crafted pages, explore unheard voices and untold stories from the fringes of sport, from Bhutan’s rugged cliffs to Sweden’s icy shores. With only 250 copies available, secure yours at offfield.net and use the promo code in the show notes for an exclusive podcast listener discount.

This is the Unsung podcast, introducing the sports starts you don’t know, telling the stories you can’t miss. 

We’ve got a special episode for you this time around, which was recorded live as part of the 2025 Morpeth Book Festival in March. 

It was great to be part of the event, alongside some big-name authors who actually know what they’re doing. 

The talk is titled Not All Heroes Wear Kits, and it’s something of a whistlestop tour through a few of the Unsung characters I’ve written about, including one or two that podcast listeners may be familiar with, alongside others who I’m speaking about the first time. 

And, like a pound shop Marvel villain, there’s a little bit of backstory that goes into the how and why I got into telling these unsung stories from outside the mainstream.

Many thanks to everyone who came along. Thanks also to Ben Hobson at Morpeth Library for his tech expertise, and to Sarah Jayne Kennedy Robson, Ian Leech, and all the festival organisers for inviting me along.

If you’re interested in finding out more about Off-Field’s debut print anthology that I mention at the end of my talk, head to off-field.net. 

We’re taking pre-orders now for release later this Spring. If you want to be among the first to have a copy land on your doorstep, use code MORPETH2025 at checkout to enjoy a 10% discount on all pre-orders.

Alan Bell, Athletics Starter

“The lowest moment was probably the disqualification of Usain Bolt, not because it was him at all, but because having to disqualify an athlete in the final of the World Championships. It could have been any of them, but the fact that it's an athlete who, like all of the people in that final, they might have worked for 10, 12, 15 years just to be there. It's sad that you have toapply the rule. I take no pleasure in any red card to any athlete, whether it's the under 13s in the Tyneside Track League, or whether it be somebody in a World Championship.”

Matthew Scott, Haas F1 Chief Mechanic

“The car had just been converted to component pieces. It was one of the worst things I've ever seen. The batteries are anything from 600 to 800 volts. At the start of the race, they're fully charged. And they're lethal anyway. But the battery had split open. So, it was hanging there, sizzling away. Someone had to take the responsibility of cutting through those battery cables. And so, it was like, well, I suppose I've got to have a go at this. And you're there stood in all this protective gear. You just go down and cut these wires. You don't know what's going to happen.”

James Robson, British Lions Rugby Doctor

“I love seeing Tom, and he's off with Nicole now, and he's having a fantastic life. The only piece of memorabilia I have on the walls in the house, despite being in privileged position over the years, is Tom's jersey that was cut off him. It sits above our television. Because every day, I thank goodness that we were able to affect what we did and that was down to training. That is a reminder to me how fickle life is. If you can be there and you can have that privileged moment of providing the necessary care, you can make such a difference to not only that individual, but their family and friends and what happens for the rest of their lives.”

“Medics worldwide do that every day. We don't do it quite so much in sport, but every now and again, you think, "Wow, I did make a difference.”

Pre-order Off-Field Volume #1! 

www.off-field.net

(Use code MORPETH2025 for 10% discount)

Buy Unsung: Not All Heroes Wear Kits, by Alexis James

www.unsungbook.com

More from Off-Field

Unsung is an Off-Field production, bringing you the untold and unsung in audio, digital, and 

print. To enjoy more of our storytelling head to www.off-field.net

Episode credits

Writing & Narration: Alexis James

Producer: Matt Cheney

Artwork: Matt Walker

Tech Support: Ben Hobson

 Copyright 2025 Alexis James

This podcast is hosted by Captivate, try it yourself for free.

Mentioned in this episode:

Off-Field: Stories from the Fringes of Sport and Society

Step beyond the headlines with Off-Field—the free monthly newsletter from the makers of UNSUNG. Discover powerful, untold tales from the edges of sport and society, and get exclusive access to our latest audio, digital, and print storytelling projects. Subscribe at off-field.net and stay tuned until the end of the episode for a first look at our newest publication.

This is Unsung. Introducing the sports stars you don’t know, telling the stories you can’t miss.  

When it comes shamelessly over the top sporting events, the Super Bowl is peerless. A February staple in the American sporting calendar sees a four-hour extravaganza watched by an estimated 200 million people around the world. 

In the States, the Super Bowl is a nationwide cultural occasion. The sort of thing that forces electricity boards to steel themselves—a mass event that makes a noticeable mark on the economy. Advertisers must pay $7m for a 30-second ad slot, and—by far my favourite Super Bowl stat—the poultry industry alone sees 1.5 billion wings eaten in one night.

The Super Bowl transcends its sport, with non-football fans drawn to the spectacle. The fireworks, the A-listers, the multi-million-dollar half-time show. You don’t need to know your sack from your safety to enjoy the festivities. In Britain, we save our pomp and ceremony for royal occasions. But over the Atlantic, the glitz and the glamour are to be found in elite sports. Their kings and queens aren’t born in palaces; they’re made on turf. 

But these sporting monarchs don’t wear crowns on their heads. In American sports, the treasure is to be found on the fingers of its champions. It’s a tradition that is almost a hundred years old, and it’s one that has created as many off-field capers as on-field legends. 

It’s time to unwrap the history, the allure, the craft, and the intrigue behind Super Bowl’s championship rings.

Quotes:

Jason Arasheben, Jason of Beverly Hills

“It's deeply rooted in American education. When people graduate high school, they get a high school ring. When you graduate college, you get a college ring. There's a lot of fraternities and social clubs where they get a membership ring. The ring symbolises something. And it transitioned its way into the world of sports. They wanted something to celebrate their victory, a testament to their accomplishment. And I think that if you go back 50 years, they had rings, but they were very small and understated. Whereas now it's less of a practical piece of jewellery and more of a trophy to celebrate.”

“When the Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl we had numerous clients on that team, including Tom Brady, who went to the ownership and said they wanted to have something different.”

“The Tampa Bay ring was the first championship ring with a removable element. We needed as much real estate as possible on the ring to tell a better story. That’s why we created a removable top.”

“The LA Rams ring was probably my favourite ring. Not only did the top come off, but we also had a piece of the ball that was used in the Super Bowl. On the inside of the cap, we did a statuette of the stadium. And on the field, the green that's on the field is made up of remnants of the actual turf the players played on. There are so many storylines and easter eggs within that ring that it makes for an amazing storytelling experience when you're showing the ring.”

“Some owners will give one to every single employee, down to the person who's sweeping the floors. Every employee that did anything for the Rams, Mr. Kroenke and his family delivered them a ring. Which was amazing.”

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Buy tickets to see Unsung live at the Morpeth Book Festival. Alexis James: Not All Heroes Wear Kits at Morpeth Library.

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/morpeth/morpeth-library-at-leisure-centre/alexis-james-not-all-heroes-wear-kits/2025-03-22/12:45/t-eadxejp

Vince Lombardi team talk at the 1967 Super Bowl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWQqArRDTdk

Kansas City Chiefs 2024 Super Bowl Ring

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_nAAiwRvg8

Championship ring in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvBWwn0HsIw

ESPN’s story about Sean Murphy stealing the New York Giants rings

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7bi1-zFLyQ

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft’s message to Vladimir Putin

https://www.instagram.com/saintjavelin/reel/C6n2pTAsU4K/

John Schmitt on losing his Super Bowl ring in Hawaii

https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/25819680

Buy the book

Unsung: Not All Heroes Wear Kits, by Alexis James

http://www.unsungbook.com

More from Off-Field

Unsung is an Off-Field production, bringing you the untold and unsung in audio, digital, and 

print. To enjoy more of our storytelling, head to www.off-field.net

Episode credits

Writing & Narration: Alexis James

Producer: Matt Cheney

Artwork: Matt Walker

Mentioned in this episode:

Join Me for a Live Recording at Morpeth Book Festival!

On March 22nd, I'll be hosting a live recording of the Unsung podcast at the Morpeth Book Festival in Northumberland. Expect untold stories from my Unsung book and podcast, plus an exclusive reveal of an exciting new publication! Tickets are just £5, and I'll even throw in some tips on the best pubs in Morpeth. The event, titled Not All Heroes Wear Kits, will take place at Morpeth Library. Can't make it? Email your questions, and I'll answer them during the show. Grab your tickets now via the link in the show notes or search "Alexis James" on ticketsource.co.uk. See you there!

This is Unsung. Introducing the sports stars you don’t know, telling the stories you can’t miss. 

As the final whistle blows on 2024, we’re back with a review of the sporting year. As you might expect by now, we’ll be taking an alternative look through the calendar and picking out its lesser-lauded legends. 

We’ve got pioneers, innovators, outsiders, and entertainers, many transforming sport and making their mark away from the mainstream glare.

So, like a middle-aged bespectacled Turkish sharpshooter, let’s fire the opening shot on 2024: The Unsung Year in Review.

For the second year running, the Unsung podcast has been nominated as a finalist in the Sports Podcast Awards. This time around, we’re shortlisted in two categories: Best Sports Documentary Podcast and Best Olympics and Paralympics Podcast. 

We’d love your vote! You can do so in the links below:

Best Sports Documentary Podcast: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-sports-documentary-podcast

Best Olympics and Paralympics Podcast: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-olympics-and-paralympics-podcast

Quotes:

“We worked on the England shirt that had the multicoloured crosses on it that was to represent diversity in modern England. Peter Saville said at the time, if I design something and show it to a hundred people, I'd rather 50 people love it and 50 people hate it than a hundred people think it's okay. Because nobody ever bought anything because it was okay.”

Rob Warner

“I hope that because I've done this and I've gone through the EFL and the Championship and the Premier League, in five- or 10-years’ time, we'll have numerous women and girls [refereeing] in these leagues, and it won't even be talked about. It'll just be the norm.”

Rebecca Welch

“Flying Disc and Ultimate are absolutely brilliantly designed for the Olympic Games. You know, we have gender equality, our co-ed mixed division, which we feature at the World Games really works well. It's a legitimate division. It's not something we're making up to try to satisfy an expectation. It's interesting to youth, youth like to play it. And then you talk about the spirit of the game. I mean, if you go back to the founder of the Olympics, his idea was of sportsmanship, of respect, of cessation of hostilities. We believe our sport brings all of this to the table and has something to offer.”

Robert ‘Nob’ Rauch

“Life doesn't end there. I think that's the most important thing. I think it's so scary to look too far ahead, but I think you just have to take every day at a time and see how it goes. You're going to have some really good days and you're going to have some really bad days and if you have a really bad day just think, well, tomorrow is going to be different. And if it's not the day after is going to be different. But don't stop doing what you love doing and just try to keep living and make the most of whatever you've got and make every day count”

Nils Amelinckx

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Vote for Unsung in the 2025 Sports Podcast Awards:

Best Sports Documentary Podcast: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-sports-documentary-podcast

Best Olympics and Paralympics Podcast: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-olympics-and-paralympics-podcast

Amazing Sports Stories: The Business of Losing, BBC World Service:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0j7x5l2

Rider Resilience documentary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM9Oa6108kI

Buy the book

Unsung: Not All Heroes Wear Kits, by Alexis James

http://www.unsungbook.com

More from Off-Field

Unsung is an Off-Field production, bringing you the untold and unsung in audio, digital, and 

print. To enjoy more of our storytelling head to www.off-field.net

Episode credits

Writing & Narration: Alexis James

Producer: Matt Cheney

Artwork: Matt Walker

Mentioned in this episode:

Join Me for a Live Recording at Morpeth Book Festival!

On March 22nd, I'll be hosting a live recording of the Unsung podcast at the Morpeth Book Festival in Northumberland. Expect untold stories from my Unsung book and podcast, plus an exclusive reveal of an exciting new publication! Tickets are just £5, and I'll even throw in some tips on the best pubs in Morpeth. The event, titled Not All Heroes Wear Kits, will take place at Morpeth Library. Can't make it? Email your questions, and I'll answer them during the show. Grab your tickets now via the link in the show notes or search "Alexis James" on ticketsource.co.uk. See you there!

This is Unsung. Introducing the sports stars you don’t know, telling the stories you can’t miss. 

In the UK alone, over four million people participated in some form of swimming in 2023. 

And while the pandemic prompted a flurry of pool closures that continue today, many defied this worrying trend by heading for a dip outdoors in lakes, rivers, lochs, and seas. Over half a million of us took a dip in open water last year. 

And yet, in a twisted irony, Covid-19 also triggered a shortage of qualified lifeguards to keep us safe.

And so, in this episode of Unsung, we meet some of the country’s best lifeguards to discover why they do what they do, and to see if we can’t persuade a few more to follow their lead…

Many thanks Fay Tennet and her lifeguarding team at the Great North Swim for having me tag along as they went about their work with such diligence and expertise. 

My thanks also to the Royal Lifesaving Society for their help and support, and of course to the organisers at the Great North Swim for letting me come along.

Head to the links below to find out more about taking part in the Great North Swim or how to sign up as a volunteer lifeguard.

Quotes:

"I'm a sort of serial volunteer, so I just keep saying yes to stuff. It's great. And it does bring a huge amount of experience of things that you never even think about. For me, my personal drive is that I want to help people love what I love."

"Everyone's got a different story to what brought them to the water's edge. But all those stories have got a common thread, which is that We're all just human and we're all just trying to be better people. So that's why I came here today, just to kind of affirm that. And it's nice to give back."

"I'd always encourage people to volunteer; you get a lot out of it."

"Your days can be really long and really boring and wet and windy, and then within a millisecond something happens, and you've got to be on it. One minute you might be chatting to swimmers and saying, 'Oh, have a nice swim, isn't it lovely?' And the next minute you're being alerted to a medical emergency. And you are part of a team that is responding to basically save somebody's life. It really brings it home to the reason you're there."

"Everything in life is quite heavy for a lot of people. Being in the outdoors is risky. But it's not risky if you do it in the right way. And this event is the right way to do it. You know, and that's why we're here today."

Explore more

Bored Olympic lifeguard at Rio 2016

https://www.washingtonpost.com/olympics/2016/live-updates/rio-games/scores-and-latest-news/olympic-swimming-lifeguards-are-real-and-theyre-spectacularly-bored/

Great North Swim: Sign up

https://www.greatswim.org/great-north-swim

RLSS water safety event volunteer

https://www.rlss.org.uk/event-water-safety-volunteer

RLSS: the Water Safety Code

https://www.rlss.org.uk/the-water-safety-code

Swim England: Volunteering

https://www.swimming.org/careers/volunteering/

STA: How to become a swimming teacher 

https://www.sta.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/How-to-Become-a-Swimming-Teacher-Guide-STA.pdf

STA: How to become a lifeguard

https://www.sta.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/How-to-Become-a-Lifeguard-Career-Guide-STA.pdf

STA: Community starters charity grants

https://www.sta.co.uk/news/category/community-starters/

Buy the book

Unsung: Not All Heroes Wear Kits, by Alexis James

http://www.unsungbook.com

More from Off-Field

Unsung is an Off-Field production, bringing you the untold and unsung in audio, digital, and 

print. To enjoy more of our storytelling, head to www.off-field.net

Episode credits

Writing & Narration: Alexis James

Producer: Matt Cheney

Artwork: Matt Walker

Mentioned in this episode:

Join Me for a Live Recording at Morpeth Book Festival!

On March 22nd, I'll be hosting a live recording of the Unsung podcast at the Morpeth Book Festival in Northumberland. Expect untold stories from my Unsung book and podcast, plus an exclusive reveal of an exciting new publication! Tickets are just £5, and I'll even throw in some tips on the best pubs in Morpeth. The event, titled Not All Heroes Wear Kits, will take place at Morpeth Library. Can't make it? Email your questions, and I'll answer them during the show. Grab your tickets now via the link in the show notes or search "Alexis James" on ticketsource.co.uk. See you there!

This is Unsung. Introducing the sports stars you don’t know, telling the stories you can’t miss. 

There are hundreds of visually impaired athletes around the world who aren’t able to see the finish line yet can complete a race quicker than most of us can tie our shoelaces. 

Some run far, rather than fast. Some even try swimming or cycling. That they’re able to do so is thanks to a largely undocumented partnership that deserves a bit more love and attention.

And so, in this new episode of Unsung, we’re delving into the hidden world of para sport guides.

We speak to visually impaired Welsh sprinter James Ledger, along with his Scottish guide Greg Kelly, to discover the nuances and challenges involved in building a strong relationship both on and off the track. 

We also speak to American triathlete and Ironman legend Ben Hoffman, as he embarks on a new career as a guide for Owen Cravens, one of the USA’s brightest talents in the paratriathlon. 

Many thanks to all the athletes who spoke to us between their training and events, and best of luck to them in their future events.

Head to the links below to find out more about becoming a para guide.

James

“For me growing up it was very much around fitting in and not standing out for having a disability.”

“I went down to my local Swansea Harriers track and from that moment on, I became obsessed with trying to be as fast as I could be.”

“It’s never nice hearing your sight is getting worse, but thankfully, in the amazing world we live in para sport, I'm still able to do the sport I love.”

“One of the biggest challenges to T11 running is finding a guide. It’s tough to find somebody who's fast enough because I need a guide runner who can pretty much run a second faster than me, so that they can run within themselves, control me to run straight, and also communicating as much as possible throughout the race.”

“I’m really grateful for Greg joining me on my journey. Because he definitely came at my hour of need.”

"The amount of trust I have to put into Greg to allow me to run as fast as I can in a straight line in the dark. Having that relationship is vital.”

“I'll always aim to promote guide runners because I think they're incredible people, you know, they allow people like me to follow their dreams. I think they should be really championed as very much the unsung heroes of my sports”

Greg

“It’s almost like riding a bike, the faster you're going, the more stable it feels. Sometimes with jogging and drills, that's actually the hardest in terms of timing. When we're running fast, it's more normal to keep the arms pumping and legs coming up.”

“The trajectory was just going up and up, with some of our best races being in Switzerland and Paris big. It was great to be given that opportunity and in Switzerland, where we got a PB for James, a British record.”

“James said that he doesn't want me to stop competing and striving for my individual aspirations, but it's something that can develop both of us. So hopefully that’s something that breaks the stereotype that if you're a guide runner, you're only a guide runner.”

Ben

“It's rewarding. It feels good to contribute to somebody else's dreams and goals. Because I can remember what it was like to be that age and it's a special time to be setting out on that mission, on that career that's in front of you.” 

“The first race we did in Tasmania I made a mistake, and I actually did an extra lap on the bike of the 20k course, and so we went from leading the race quite comfortably to falling all the way down to seventh place”

“You're not just guiding them for the 55 minutes to an hour that you're doing the course. It's everything leading up to that. You're spending time with them, going to the meetings, you're in the hotel room with them. It's a lot more than just the race day.”

“The level of responsibility that you feel when you get on a tandem bike and you're going 30 miles an hour around a course, with barriers all around you and two people's lives are on the line, is certainly something that I had never experienced before.”

“My big takeaway from being around all these Paralympic athletes, I'm just inspired. These are amazing people, independent of whatever disability that they're operating with. Just to see them show up and do the work and, and be at the level they are, it just gets me fired up and it makes me get the most out of myself.”

British Blind Sport/Run Together - Find a guide runner

https://runtogether.co.uk/get-involved/find-a-guide/

Become a guide runner – England Athletics

https://www.englandathletics.org/take-part/programmes/findaguide/become-a-guide-runner/

British Blind Sport resources

https://britishblindsport.org.uk/sportsresources

British Blind Sport online workshop

https://britishblindsport.org.uk/elearning

Disability Sport Wales podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-disability-sport-wales-podcast/id1524929605

Welsh Para Athletics

https://www.welshathletics.org/en/page/para-athletics

James Ledger Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/jamesledger93/

Greg Kelly Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/gregkelly_99/

Ben Hoffman Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/bhoffmanracing/

Owen Cravens Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/owen.cravens19/

Royal National Institute of Blind People

https://www.rnib.org.uk/

RNIB Cymru Twitter

https://x.com/RNIBCymru

Unsung: Not All Heroes Wear Kits, by Alexis James

http://www.unsungbook.com

Unsung is an Off-Field production, bringing you the untold and unsung in audio, digital, and 

print. To enjoy more of our storytelling, head to www.off-field.net

Writing & Narration: Alexis James

Producer: Matt Cheney

Artwork: Matt Walker

Mentioned in this episode:

Join Me for a Live Recording at Morpeth Book Festival!

On March 22nd, I'll be hosting a live recording of the Unsung podcast at the Morpeth Book Festival in Northumberland. Expect untold stories from my Unsung book and podcast, plus an exclusive reveal of an exciting new publication! Tickets are just £5, and I'll even throw in some tips on the best pubs in Morpeth. The event, titled Not All Heroes Wear Kits, will take place at Morpeth Library. Can't make it? Email your questions, and I'll answer them during the show. Grab your tickets now via the link in the show notes or search "Alexis James" on ticketsource.co.uk. See you there!

This is Unsung. Introducing the sports stars you don’t know, telling the stories you can’t miss. In this opening episode of a new series of Unsung, we’re telling the story of the IOC’s Olympic Refugee Team.

This year, the Olympics will feature 36 athletes from 11 different countries of origin, competing in 12 different sports. At the Paralympics, eight athletes and one guide runner will make up the refugee team

This will be the team’s third appearance at the Games, after making its debut in Rio in 2016. Back then, there were close to 60 million displaced people globally. On the eve of Paris 2024, that number has now soared to well over 100 million and is still rising – that’s around 1 in 70 people living on our planet. Putting them all in one place would create the 14th most populous country in the world – and that population is increasing all the time.

But especially in a year typified by highly emotive elections all over the world, there is a tendency to distil the topic of refugees and immigration to faceless numbers and dispassionate data. But each statistic has a human story behind it. You’ll hear a couple of those in this episode.

Matin Balsini and Dorsa Yavarivafa were both born in Iran, the country where almost half of this year’s Refugee Team comes from Iran, giving some indication as to just how bad the situation is for Iranian athletes. 

The Iranian government exerts significant control over sports and often uses athletes for political propaganda, enforcing strict compliance with its ideological mandates. Those who dissent or fail to conform face dire consequences. 

It’s a repressive environment that stifles freedom of expression and forces many talented athletes to defect in search of safety and the liberty to compete without political interference. Athletes like Matin and Dorsa, who share their painful experiences and emotional journeys in finding a new home in the UK, and the stories of their successful route to the Olympics in Paris.

Many thanks to Matin and Dorsa for speaking to us just weeks before their appearance in Paris, and to the IOC for facilitating the interviews. 

Quotes:

Matin

"The one thing I really love about swimming is when you are in the water you cannot hear anything, you basically cannot see anything. And you can scream and no one can hear you."

"At 17, I decided to coach myself. And the hardest thing was, after one year when I improved a lot, the coaches were jealous. They didn't want me to improve because they thought that it made them look small."

"During the session I'd be swimming alone in the pool, and they would just turn the lights off.I had to swim in the darkness."

“I'm so happy that I am going to the Olympic Games and I'm super excited as well. But it's a bit sad for me because I can’t represent my nation anymore.”

Dorsa

“All I had with me for a whole year was my racket. It was just me, my racket, and my mom."

"I was about 14 when we left. It was really hard because I had to leave my family and my friends. I was quiet, depressed, and sad at first, because I was really shocked. But I had to do it, it just wasn't safe for my mom and me to stay in Iran."

"We tried to go, and they pointed a gun at us. They thought we were armed. And then they put us in jail. They separated me from my mom, which was really difficult. I remember how scared I was then. Imagine a 15-year-old girl being away from her mom in a jail. It was the worst nightmare of my life."

"Imagine representing your own country, there is such a power in that. But I'm not able to do that. So that is very sad, but I had to do it."

Explore more

Refugee athlete Eyeru Gebru speaks to Eurosport

https://www.eurosport.com/cycling/cycling-saved-my-life-eyeru-gebru-the-refugee-dreaming-of-paris-2024-olympics_vid1962498/video.shtml

Thomas Bach and Masomah Ali Zada at the IOC Refugee Team announcement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQ92zcp3gZE

Dorsa Yavarivafa Olympics profile

https://olympics.com/en/athletes/dorsa-yavarivafa

Dorsa Yavarivafa Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/dorsa_yavarivafa/?hl=en

Matin Balsini Olympics profile

https://olympics.com/en/athletes/matin-balsini

Matin Balsini Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/matinbalsinii/?hl=en-gb

Buy the book

Unsung: Not All Heroes Wear Kits, by Alexis James

http://www.unsungbook.com

More from Off-Field

Unsung is an Off-Field production, bringing you the untold and unsung in audio, digital, and 

print. To enjoy more of our storytelling, head to www.off-field.net

Episode credits

Writing & Narration: Alexis James

Producer: Matt Cheney

Artwork: Matt Walker

Mentioned in this episode:

Join Me for a Live Recording at Morpeth Book Festival!

On March 22nd, I'll be hosting a live recording of the Unsung podcast at the Morpeth Book Festival in Northumberland. Expect untold stories from my Unsung book and podcast, plus an exclusive reveal of an exciting new publication! Tickets are just £5, and I'll even throw in some tips on the best pubs in Morpeth. The event, titled Not All Heroes Wear Kits, will take place at Morpeth Library. Can't make it? Email your questions, and I'll answer them during the show. Grab your tickets now via the link in the show notes or search "Alexis James" on ticketsource.co.uk. See you there!

Hello and Happy New Year! It’s Alexis here from Unsung with our first ever public service announcement.

At the end of our last episode in December, I mentioned that you’d next hear from us in the Spring. But while we continue to work on series 2, forgive me for jumping on the feed a little earlier than planned.

Because, like a school kid eager to show their parents their “cleaned my plate” lunch sticker, I wanted to share the news that Unsung has been shortlisted as a finalist in the 2024 Sports Podcast Awards.

After our rookie season, we’ve been nominated in the Sports Talk Podcast category, pitted against the likes of football legend Ian Wright, top broadcasters Kate Abdo and Simon Jordan, snooker player Shaun Murphy, and three sporting titans from across the Atlantic who’ve nearly 5m followers between them.

And then there's little ol' Unsung. Think David and Goliath, except we’re not David; we’re David’s annoying little dog, yelping for scraps and attention when he goes off to chin the big guys.

Although it’s fair to say we’ve had a little more attention since our nomination.

A new listener recently tweeted us to say our last episode was like, “if you purchased Roy Chubby Brown off of Wish, you would get this guy”. But hey, that counts as a download. 

For anyone else who has enjoyed any of our episodes in the last year, we'd love your vote! You’ll find the link in the show notes, or head to www.SportsPodcastGroup.com and you’ll find us among the shortlist for the best Sports Talk Podcast.

Finally, a thank you to all our guests, whose generosity of time and entertaining yarns are the reason our fledgling podcast has been recognised by the industry. 

And another big thank you goes to you for listening and to anyone who has subscribed, reviewed, or spread the word about Unsung. This knock-off, Roy Chubby Brown, really appreciates it.

Thanks for your vote, and we’ll be back in the Spring with some new episodes of Unsung - introducing the sports stars you don’t know, telling the stories you can’t miss.

Vote for Unsung at the 2024 Sports Podcast Awards

Click here to vote for Unsung: https://www.sportspodcastgroup.com/sports_category/best-sports-talk-podcast/

Buy the book!

Unsung: Not All Heroes Wear Kits, by Alexis James

http://www.unsungbook.com

Host: Alexis James

Producer: Matt Cheney

Artwork: Matt Walker

Executive Producer: Sam Barry

With 2023 coming to a close, there’s something a little different for you in this rather frenetic episode of the Unsung podcast.

In just 40 minutes, we rattle through the sporting year via the perspective of its unsung heroes, beginning way back in January at a boisterous and disbelieving darts crowd in Ally Pally, before ending with a tenuous reference to the late Mystic Meg to review a sporting event that is yet to occur.

You’ll also discover the Augusta National golf legend you're unlikely to have heard of, find out why Phil Foden can’t stop eating salmon and soy, and discover a good reason to raid the drinks globe for the winter's first drop of snow. 

If you’ve listened to previous Unsung episodes, you might recognise some of the voices featured here. We’ve got anecdotes and insight for every month of the year, and if you’d like to hear more from anyone involved, be sure to check out episodes 1 to 9 from our archive.

It all makes for a whistlestop tour of 2023, and I think you’ll enjoy it. If you do, please consider leaving a review to help others discover it.

And if you know of someone who’d make a good subject for a future Unsung podcast, get in touch with a recommendation at unsungpodcast.com.

 Quotes:

 “The real skill in my job is you wait until everybody is at the pinnacle of their set position and they have all been absolutely still in that position. And when you're happy that they've all had that opportunity to get into the still position and concentrate, you pull the trigger. It's fair to say probably at a major event between set and pulling the trigger, I'm holding my breath. I'm holding my breath, because I'm praying I don't have to pull the other trigger."

 “Climate change is real. It’s something that’s very heavily linked to snowmaking, which is becoming more popular with resorts just to ensure that they can open for their customers and provide a great experience. Instead of having snow machines that are 100 to 150 metres apart from each other, they’re going to 20 to 50 metres apart. You’re getting snow guns that are closer and closer. That has been a trend that we’ve been seeing in this industry.”

 “Last season, it was absolute chaos because of the World Cup. Quite a lot of people thought, "well, I'll go to the World Cup, I'll come back a mega star and PSG or Real Madrid will be on the phone, and it's the transfer window immediately afterwards." So when people came back from the World Cup, they were like, "oh Real Madrid's not on the phone. I haven't heard from Barca. Uh, I guess I'm staying. Better get a chef then."

 "I built my business, and I wasn't going to let any of these guys [dopers] ruin it for me. So, I found a way of enjoying it, of getting over the shock and any disappointment and just moving on. And cycling's also a sport which is very beautiful. Um, I don't just mean the scenery, I mean the beauty of riding a bicycle is a very beautiful thing."

 “In groundsmanship, everybody knows if you let the underdogs train on the pitch first, they're going to do it over because that's going to give them an advantage, to make the pitch bobbly. So, Portsmouth came and hammered it, then did a penalty shoot-out. Then Petr Cech came on and said, 'why am I playing on a potato field?'."

Charity Partner

Leading social care charity Community Integrated Care delivers 10 million hours of care annually to people with learning disabilities, autism, mental health concerns, dementia, and complex care needs. Their revolutionary ‘Inclusive Volunteering’ model sees it partner with top sporting events to tackle society’s deepest inequalities, enabling thousands with complex barriers to enjoy sport.

To find out more about the charity, visit www.CommunityIntegratedCare.co.uk.

Buy the book!

Unsung: Not All Heroes Wear Kits, by Alexis James

http://www.unsungbook.com

 Guests: Brooke VanderKelen, Mikko Martikainen, Emilie Rath, Rachel Muse, Tony Britten, Graham Watson, Alan Bell, Dr/John Mayhew, Phil Neale, Tony Stones.

Host: Alexis James

Producer: Matt Cheney

Artwork: Matt Walker

Executive Producer: Sam Barry

Our guest this time around is Phil Neale, who enjoyed a 47-year career in professional sport. Having played 369 games for Lincoln City and 354 first-class matches for Worcestershire; he’s believed to be the last man to play both professional football and professional cricket at the same time.

But it’s his post-playing role that we’re mostly discussing in this episode, first as county-level coach and then with the England A setup, before moving on to become England cricket’s first-ever operations manager. Appointed to help out Duncan Fletcher and captain Nasser Hussain in 1999, it’s a role he stayed in for over 20 years, encompassing 257 Test matches, 422 ODIs and 110 T20Is. He was also there throughout the tenure of six head coaches and 11 Test captains.

During our chat, which took place as the early stages of the 2023 Cricket World Cup unfolded in India, the man who became known to England’s top cricketers as Uncle Phil talked about his versatile yet integral role behind the scenes. He recalls his memorable experiences, including five Ashes series victories, the 2010 T20 World Cup triumph, and, of course, the famous 2019 World Cup win at Lords.

Phil describes being peppered in the nets by Freddie Flintoff, navigating a floundering Michael Vaughan through an Indian airport, and revealing which cricketer’s bag was the only one he lost in over two decades. There are also tales from that infamous Germany boot camp ahead of the 2010 Ashes and the time he tried his best to keep a lid on post-World Cup celebrations in 10 Downing Street.

Many thanks to Phil for taking the time out to speak to me, and also to Luke Thornhill and Donald Nannestad at Lincoln City for putting me in touch with their former player.

If you know of someone who’d make a good subject for a future Unsung podcast, get in touch with a recommendation at unsungpodcast.com.

Quotes:

"Alistair Cook sat down with me, towards the end of my time with England, and we were rained off one day, and he said, 'come on Phil, let's work out how many days you've spent on a sports field'. And we worked it out that I'd spent basically 10 years of my life, 24 hours a day, day and night, on a cricket field. Never mind getting into the football."

 "I really enjoyed those first five years with Duncan Fletcher, where I had a fair bit of responsibility on the cricket side as well, I became the throw down guy. I did some throws with Freddie Flintoff, which was a nightmare because Freddy's way of practicing was, I only want to hit straight drives. I just want to hit the ball hard and straight so you throw it and get out the way as quick as you can. I've got quite a few, got quite a few bruises on my shins from Freddie peppering it back at me. 

 There was one period where he was out of form and then he got some runs in the one-dayseries and won the man of the series and he presented me with his jeroboam of champagne as thanks for getting him into nick. So it was nice when those little bits of appreciation came back."

 "Monty Panesar was in front of me. And Monty was on the edge of this cliff facing with his back down the cliff, holding onto the rope. And I watched Monty, and his feet were moving, but he wasn't going backwards. He was walking on the spot. He just couldn't get himself to go over the edge. And I watched him for about five minutes, and he pulled out in the end. And I said, right, I'm ready to go now. And I thought, I can't be any worse than that."

 "One of the things I've done since I've retired is look back and see what the common factors are in the teams that have been successful, and the teams that haven't. Good senior players are one, but planning and preparation definitely is part of it. And Andy Flower, to his credit, for that 2010/11 Ashes series, he nailed it completely. And you can see now how successful he's been in all these franchise competitions. You know, he's, his attention to detail is meticulous. He's a top man."

 "Eoin Morgan was definitely the best captain. It was his team. He led by example, which is something that I would try to do. When I look back on the teams that I played in and how I captained the side, I look back on how Eoin does it and was pleased to see that some of the things that he does were things that I tried to do as well."

Explore more

 Phil Neale’s Wikipedia page

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phil_Neale

 Buy the book!

 Unsung: Not All Heroes Wear Kits, by Alexis James

http://www.unsungbook.com

Guest: Phil Neale

Host: Alexis James

Producer: Matt Cheney

Artwork: Matt Walker

Executive Producer: Sam Barry

Thanks to: Luke Thornhill and Donald Nannestad at Lincoln City

Mentioned in this episode:

The Unsung charity partner is leading social care charity, Community Integrated Care.

They deliver 10 million hours of care annually to people with learning disabilities, autism, mental health concerns, dementia, and complex care needs.