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SAM IRELAND

Former Professional Basketball Player

Training And Practicing Sports Psychologist


Researcher


People Developer

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ABOUT

Committed to Excellence

I was born on the 08th of November 1995 to a German mother and an English father in Munich, Germany. I grew up in southern Germany in the countryside just outside of Munich, with an older sister Janina, a younger sister Kate, and a black Labrador called George. I have always been interested and involved in sport.
Playing football, basketball and competing in triathlons, starting to coach basketball teams at the age of 14, earning coaching and refereeing licenses and enjoying pretty much every type of exercise I encountered.

After finishing school, I took a year out to work and volunteer abroad in Karnataka, India with the help of an organisation called Raleigh International, providing sustainable aid to local communities under the umbrella term WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene).

I then began my studies in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, studying Psychology with Sport Sciences (B.Sc.) and playing basketball on a competitive level in the National Basketball League (Division 1), as well as the highest national university league (BUCS). This was my first taste of a competitive performance environment, learning many lessons in leadership from later Team GB national head coach Marc Steutel.

Upon completing my undergraduate degree I moved to Cologne, Germany to further my academic education and study Psychology in Sport and Exercise (M.Sc.) at the German Sport University Cologne, the best university for sport in Germany and among the best in Europe and the world.In the first year of my postgraduate degree I continued to play competitive basketball for the Bayer Giants Leverkusen in the 1. Regionalliga (4th tier), the most successful German basketball club in history. It was here that I learned more about the structure of a big organisation with many different levels, a successful youth program all the way up to a successful men's team, competing against the best Germany has to offer.

When I reached the latter stages of the Masters program, I was so fortunate to get the opportunity of furthering my sport psychological career and was offered the position for head of sport psychology in the youth academy of FC 1904 Viktoria Köln, a football team competing in the 3. Bundesliga in Germany. I decided that I wanted to continue my development in this direction, instead of furthering my career as an athlete. There are very few positions in the domain of sport psychology and being able to gather such valuable experiences, working with competitive athletes every day is a joy and a privilege.

Complementing my applied work with athletes and coaches, I also work in the second big domain of sport psychology, carrying out research in the Psychological Institute of the German Sport University Cologne as a research assistant, conducting research using psychological diagnostic tools and brain imaging such as electroencephalography (EEG), learning about the newest developments of sport psychological theory and applying this directly to my work at FC 1904 Viktoria Köln.

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The last big part of my work and my area of interest is performance in business. Both my parents, Antje and John Ireland, work in coaching, consulting and training (antje-ireland.eu; john-ireland.eu), and have helped me gain insights into the work in personality and team development in this performance environment. 


Day in, day out I get to work with incredibly talented people, both athletes and non-athletes, competing at the highest levels of their professional sport or working for the biggest companies in the European market.
My drive and my passion is to be able to offer a service that helps people develop themselves, develop others around them and ultimately lead a more successful, fulfilled and happy life. I have had the incredible fortune to learn from some of the best that sport and business have to offer, and will continue to learn every day for as long as I live.


If you want to know more about my background, my references, my philosophy and my work in general, please do not hesitate to get in contact!

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