'A conversation with Dr Kate Hays' - Life with the Lionesses and supporting young girls for a life in sport

In this episode Head of Women's Psychology at the Football Association Dr. Kate Hays joins Gordon MacLelland to discuss life with the Lionesses and supporting and inspiring young girls to a life in sport.

During the conversation they discuss amongst other things:

• Memories of last Summer's success with the Lionesses
• Creating a bubble around athletes at high profile events to help them focus on performance
• Creating safe spaces for athletes to process success, manage the aftermath of highly emotional events and helping to support the resetting of new goals to move forward
• The power of sport to inspire, create opportunities and provide amazing role models
• Understanding the individual needs of young performers in sport whether we are coaches or parents
• The importance of youth sport and facilitating safe environments for children to learn, develop as individuals and make mistakes
• Framing winning and competition in a positive manner whilst supporting our children to understand why and how they perhaps achieve specific outcomes
• Common traits in top athletes and their drive to be the best, their drive to improve, their relentless focus on success, their ability to be objective in reviewing performances and how they leave no stone unturned
• Everyone wants to win - so how do we win?
• Intrinsic v Extrinsic motivation
• The potential job opportunities in sport for young females in sport

Dr Kate Hays is the Head of Women’s Performance Psychology at the Football Association. Previously, she spent more than seven years in a similar role with the English Institute of Sport [EIS]. She has worked as a sport psychologist and been part of multidisciplinary teams for 20 years. 

During this time Kate has worked across a range of different sports and supported athletes competing in major global events including World Championships, Olympics and the professional equivalent – most recently among the team behind the team at the Tokyo Games.

Her current role includes working closely with elite England players in an on-camp role as a key part of head coach Sarina Wiegman’s support team. Day to day, she is responsible for ensuring a consistent approach is introduced across all development sides as part of a commitment to strengthening the women’s player pathway.