Science for Sport Podcast

This week on the Science for Sport podcast, Richard Graves is joined by former professional footballer Carl Asaba for an honest and insightful look at life inside the game.

Carl’s journey into professional football wasn’t typical. From missing out on early opportunities and stepping away from the game, to earning a contract at 21 and going on to play over a decade in the professional ranks, his story challenges many of the assumptions around talent pathways and development.

Across the conversation, Carl reflects on the psychological demands of elite sport, handling pressure, navigating setbacks, and the importance of environment and culture in performance. From record transfers and dressing room dynamics to playoff heartbreak and career-defining moments at Wembley, this episode offers a grounded, real-world perspective on what it actually takes to build and sustain a career in football.

For practitioners working in elite sport, there are clear takeaways around player psychology, team culture, and the often-overlooked role of man management in performance.

In this episode, you will learn

Why non-linear talent pathways can still lead to elite performance

How early setbacks can shape long-term motivation and resilience

The psychological impact of transfers, expectations, and identity

What separates strong team cultures from individual-driven environments

Why “man management” remains a critical performance skill in modern sport

How players experience pressure in high-stakes matches (e.g. playoffs, Wembley)

The role of belief, environment, and coaching in unlocking performance

Lessons on handling success, ego, and distractions early in a career

What burnout, injury, and time out of the game really feel like

Why giving “your all” is a more sustainable mindset than chasing outcomes

About Carl Asaba

Carl Asaba is a former professional footballer whose career spanned over a decade across English football. Starting his professional journey at Brentford at the age of 21, he went on to play for clubs including Reading, Gillingham, and Sheffield United.

Known for his work ethic and team-first mentality, Carl was part of some iconic teams, including Gillingham’s promotion-winning side and Sheffield United’s memorable 2002–03 campaign, which reached the latter stages of multiple competitions.

Since retiring, Carl has remained close to the game through media work and supporting the next generation, while offering a unique perspective shaped by both traditional and unconventional routes into elite sport.

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In this episode of the Science for Sport Podcast, host Richard Graves is joined by Jordan Lucier, Senior Director of Engineering at Catapult and Co-Founder of Perch, to explore the next evolution of performance monitoring in the weight room.

Perch has become one of the most widely used camera-based systems for measuring barbell velocity and strength training performance in elite sport. Now, with the launch of Perch P2, the technology is taking another step forward.

Jordan shares the story behind the development of Perch, how computer vision and machine learning are used to quantify weightlifting performance, and why the weight room has historically been one of the least measured environments in sport.

The conversation explores the key technological advancements behind P2 — including improved camera technology, greater processing power, enhanced portability, and new possibilities for tracking movement quality and technique.

Jordan also discusses how better strength training data can help coaches build a more complete picture of athlete performance, how Perch fits alongside Catapult’s wider ecosystem of athlete monitoring tools, and why the next frontier may lie in connecting weight room insights with on-field performance.

In this episode you will learn

How Perch evolved from an early idea into a leading weight room monitoring system

Why velocity-based training has become increasingly important in elite sport

How computer vision technology can quantify barbell movement and lifting performance

The key upgrades introduced with the new Perch P2 system

Why portability is a major step forward for strength and conditioning environments

How improved frame rates and camera technology increase measurement accuracy

The concept of the “inaccuracy gap” and why it matters for explosive movements

How machine learning is used to track movement and analyse lifting performance

Why movement quality may become the next frontier of strength training analytics

How weight room data could integrate with broader athlete monitoring systems

About Jordan Lucier

Jordan Lucier is the Senior Director of Engineering at Catapult and Co-Founder of Perch, a computer vision system designed to measure performance in the weight room.

Originally developed at MIT, Perch uses advanced camera technology and machine learning to automatically track barbell velocity, movement patterns, and strength training performance without requiring wearable sensors.

Jordan has led the engineering development of the system from its early concept through to global adoption across professional teams, collegiate programmes, and high-performance environments.

His work sits at the intersection of sports science, computer vision, and performance technology, helping practitioners bring objective measurement to one of the most important areas of athlete development: strength training.

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​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance

​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes

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Why Female Physiology Still Needs Greater Attention in Sport with Dr Candice Macmillan

This week on the Science for Sport Podcast, host Richard Graves welcomes Dr Candice Macmillan, lecturer at the University of Pretoria, sports physiotherapist, and course author of “Contraceptives and the Female Athlete” on the Science for Sport platform.

As women’s sport continues to grow professionally around the world, understanding the unique physiological considerations of female athletes has never been more important. Yet many practitioners still feel underprepared when supporting athletes through topics such as the menstrual cycle, hormonal contraceptives, and their potential implications for performance, wellbeing, and decision-making.

Drawing on her background as a sports physiotherapist, researcher, and academic, Dr Macmillan explores how practitioners can better support female athletes through education, communication, and evidence-based decision making.

The conversation covers the complexity of hormonal contraceptives, how different types influence physiology and behaviour, and why awareness of factors such as testosterone suppression and symptom tracking may be crucial for athletes and support staff alike.

Perhaps most importantly, Dr Macmillan explains why empowering athletes to ask the right questions about their own health may be one of the most powerful tools practitioners can provide.

This episode offers valuable insights for sports scientists, strength and conditioning coaches, physiotherapists, and performance staff working across elite sport — while also opening up a conversation that continues to shape the future of female athlete support systems.

In This Episode You Will Learn

Why female athlete health remains one of the most misunderstood areas in elite sport

The difference between hormonal and non-hormonal contraceptives

Why the contraceptive pill is not a single solution and varies widely in composition

How hormonal contraceptives can influence testosterone levels and athlete behaviour

Why symptoms may impact performance more than hormone levels themselves

The importance of tracking menstrual symptoms for informed medical decisions

Why practitioners must help athletes learn the language to describe how they feel

The role communication plays between athletes, coaches and medical staff

How policy and education are shaping the future of female athlete support in sport

About Dr Candice Macmillan

Dr Candice Macmillan is a lecturer at the University of Pretoria, a qualified sports physiotherapist, and holds a PhD in Sports Physiotherapy.

Her work focuses on female athlete health, injury prevention, and performance, with a particular interest in how physiological factors influence training, recovery, and long-term athlete wellbeing. Through her academic and applied work, she aims to bridge the gap between research and real-world practice for practitioners working in sport.

Dr Macmillan is also the author of the “Contraceptives and the Female Athlete” course available on the Science for Sport platform, where she helps practitioners better understand the complexities of hormonal contraception and its potential implications for female athlete performance and health.

Her research and teaching continue to contribute to a growing body of work aimed at improving education, awareness, and practical support for female athletes across sport.

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​ Optimise Your Athletes' Recovery

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​ Save 100's Of Dollars A Year That Would Otherwise Be Spent On Books, Courses And More

​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance

​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes

​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research

This week on the Science for Sport podcast, Richard Graves is joined by Emily Jacobson, Assistant Director of Sports Performance at Marquette University.

Emily has spent the past decade building and refining a sports science model within a relatively small department, working primarily with men’s and women’s soccer and volleyball. Alongside her role at Marquette, she also contributes to U.S. Soccer in a high-performance capacity.

In this conversation, we explore one of the most pressing challenges in applied sports science: how do you simplify complex data streams so they become actionable for coaches and meaningful for athletes?

From acute:chronic workload ratios and GPS monitoring to return-to-play frameworks and Power BI dashboards, Emily shares how she transformed “expensive toys” into effective performance tools.

She discusses the importance of visualisation, collaboration with data engineers, humility in decision-making, and why the “eyeball test” still matters in a world driven by wearables and AI.

For practitioners working in elite sport, or those building systems within constrained environments, this episode offers practical insight into making sports science more impactful, not just more complex.

In this episode you will learn:

How to simplify GPS and workload data for real-world application

Why acute:chronic workload ratios are a framework — not a solution

How to build effective data visualisations that coaches actually use

The difference between “expensive toys” and performance tools

How to structure phased return-to-play models with clear definitions

Why collaboration with data engineers and academics can transform departments

How to educate athletes in an era of AI, social media and misinformation

Why patience and long-term development still matter

How to adapt sports science systems in the transfer-portal era

Why relationships remain more important than technology

About Emily Jacobson

Emily Jacobson is the Assistant Director of Sports Performance at Marquette University, where she has worked for the past 10 seasons. A former Marquette women’s soccer student-athlete, she now oversees sports science and performance systems across multiple programmes, with a particular focus on soccer and volleyball.

She has helped develop load monitoring models, return-to-play protocols and data visualisation systems that integrate GPS, velocity-based training, force plates, motion capture and body composition analysis.

In addition to her work at Marquette, Emily serves as a network employee within U.S. Soccer’s high-performance department.

Her approach combines applied performance coaching, collaborative analytics, and a strong emphasis on education and athlete relationships.

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​ Optimise Your Athletes' Recovery

​ Position Yourself As An Expert To Your Athletes And Naturally Improve Buy-In

​ Reduce Your Athletes' Injury Ratese

​ Save 100's Of Dollars A Year That Would Otherwise Be Spent On Books, Courses And More

​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance

​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes

​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research

Fresh from pre-season camp in Australia, Richard Graves sits down with Stan Parker, Sports Scientist at the Western Bulldogs, to explore how tracking data, contextual analytics, and interdisciplinary collaboration shape performance in elite AFL.

Stan’s journey spans the Brisbane Broncos in the NRL, Queensland Rugby Sevens, and now five seasons embedded within the Bulldogs’ high-performance programme, including a PhD focused on contextualising tracking data beyond simple load metrics.

This episode moves beyond “distance covered” and “top speed” to examine how sports science actually influences coaching decisions, athlete development, injury management, and tactical execution. From peak demand analysis and real-world decision-making under fatigue, to AI readiness and workflow efficiency, this is a grounded, practitioner-led conversation about where elite sport is really heading.

In this episode you will learn:

Why contextualising tracking data matters more than collecting more of it

How to compare peak training demands to peak match demands

The role of vision and video in translating data for coaches and players

How to build buy-in when athletes aren’t “numbers learners”

The balance between availability and performance in weekly competition cycles

How interdisciplinary decision-making works inside an AFL club

Why isolated fatigue “flags” can be misleading

How gym-based physical development can be directly tied to on-field outcomes

The importance of soft skills in high-performance environments

Where AI realistically fits (and doesn’t fit) in elite sports science

About Stan Parker

Stan Parker is a Sports Scientist with the Western Bulldogs in the AFL. He has previously worked with the Brisbane Broncos and Queensland Rugby Sevens, building experience across multiple elite sporting codes in Australia.

Stan is also completing a PhD focused on the contextualisation of tracking data in team sports, exploring how movement patterns and peak demands can better explain performance impact rather than serving purely as load monitoring tools.

He is particularly interested in bridging the gap between data analytics, coaching vision, and real-world performance application.

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​ Save 100's Of Dollars A Year That Would Otherwise Be Spent On Books, Courses And More

​ Improve Your Athletes' Performance

​ Advance Forward In Your Career, Allowing You To Earn More Money And Work With Elite-Level Athletes

​ Save Yourself The Stress & Worry Of Constantly Trying To Stay Up-To-Date With Sports Science Research