Ex professional player Sam Westley was at clubs including Ipswich Town, Stoke City and West Ham before retiring due to injury.
The 30-year-old from Essex is now Under 14s coach at Crystal Palace Football Club and enrolled on the BSc (Hons) Sport and Exercise Psychology at Staffordshire University via distance learning to help boost his coaching skills.
“I always thought to myself, why do some players make it and some players don’t make it? When I came through an academy and got a scholarship and then signed pro, there were players who were miles better than me and went on to do higher things, but they still didn't quite make it to that top level,” Sam commented
“Psychology is an incredibly important aspect of being an athlete. It’s not all about talent. It's not all about skill. Mindset is massive and that's one of the reasons that I took up this course.”
Studying via distance learning enabled Sam to complete his degree studies alongside his day job and he praised the support of the lecturers on the course.
“I was looking for a course that I was able to be flexible around my work. It’s just a case of just being disciplined and really trying to allocate a time to focus purely on my degree and then straight into coaching, and vice versa.
“There were times when I was struggling and then reached out to the lecturers. It was reassuring to know that you've got that support behind you. It does give it more of a personal touch when you are able to pick up the phone or email and get a response almost immediately. So it's perfect.”
During his degree, Sam designed and delivered a cognitive behavioural intervention for young athletes to improve their psychological skills and help to manage stress.
Sam delivered workshops to youth football players, which included a ‘stress piggy bank’ where the athletes shared stressful situations that they have learned or benefited from. Other interventions included creating a ‘control map’ exploring what might or might not happen in a football match and a ‘fear wall’ where athletes shared something that they were anxious or fearful about.
“A lot of them were worried about getting released or letting their parents down. And it was really good for them to see that other people were feeling the same way. That actually, we're all human and we've all got these fears.” Sam explained.
“It also gave the players a good perspective of what is their control and what isn’t. You can't control the referee, you can't control the weather, so don’t think about that and focus on the things that you can control. That really touched home.”
He added: “It proved very beneficial for the players because from baseline to follow up, a lot of the things we were trying to target improved. They enjoyed it, I enjoyed it. It was good for me to practice delivering something like this.”
Sam has graduated with a first class degree and enjoyed his studies so much that he is staying with Staffordshire University to complete a Masters degree in Sports and Exercise Psychology.
He said: “I thought I was quite knowledgeable about psychology until I got on the course and then it really blew my mind! It’s strengthened myself as a person and as a coach.
“I never thought that I'd go to university, let alone actually graduate and get a first! Since I've been on the course and really enjoyed it, had really good support from all of the tutors and got a good result, it's now made me want to go further.”
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