Biography

My training lies at the intersection between Social and Developmental Psychology and my research focuses on the integrity of sport. This includes research on values, virtues, norms, practices, identities, and the psychosocial mechanisms that combine to regulate behaviour. My published research – which is mostly free to download here – generally falls within these topics but I’m a curious person and occasionally you’ll find something left field that I was just interested in.

At work, I am the Director of Team Researcher Lab which typically houses around 10-15 students. I also lead the Developing Young People through Sport Research Group within the School of Sport, Rehabilitation, and Exercise Sciences at the University of Essex. I founded SportRχiv in 2016, and more recently the Society for Transparency, Openness, and Replication in Kinesiology (STORK) in 2019. I enjoy creating tools, solving problems, and bringing people together around a vision or project. I know this sounds corny but it’s true. Outside of work, I run an education focused not-for-profit. Our mission is to support young people to develop the skills they need to thrive in the 21st century and live awfully good lives. I also host a podcast (it’s 2022, who doesn’t) called Sports Debate and in 2019 I wrote a book called First Time Sports Coach.

I’m also married and have two young sons, who keep me pretty busy. On the rare occasion I get an afternoon to myself, I love watching football and try to see my beloved West Ham United as much as I can. Before entering academia, I spent 10 years working as an academy and community football coach both within the UK and US. If you’d like to discuss anything further, I’m open to grabbing a cup of tea and chatting more – virtual or otherwise.