When I became a yoga teacher, I wanted to run classes and workshops for women, focused on wellbeing and healthy lifestyles — I certainly had no plans to work in the football world! But a year after I completed my initial 200-hour yoga teacher training, I wanted to widen my repertoire so enrolled onto a Sport Yoga course with Sarah Ramsden, the person who made yoga famous in football working with Manchester United and Manchester City. Towards the end of my course, Sarah Ramsden was approached to find a teacher for West Bromwich Albion FC, which was close to where I lived.
The opportunity came at a great time as I was planning a sabbatical from my job in local government with the intention to work full-time as a yoga teacher. So I went to meet the head of sports science at West Brom and agreed to run two sessions a week for a month as a trial to see how I got on. For me, it was also a trial to see if I liked working with men, and in particular, Premier League footballers.
It was a great experience. I worked with some amazing players such as Craig Dawson, Rickie Lambert, James McClean and James Chester, who have all represented their country, running an activation session before training usually on a Tuesday morning, and a recovery session after training on a Thursday.
During my time at West Brom I became friends with one of the academy coaches called Darren Moore, a former player who had gone into coaching and was planning to go into management. He told me that when he became a manager I would be his yoga teacher. He stayed true to his word, and when he started his management career at Doncaster Rovers FC I was called upon; later, when he moved to Sheffield Wednesday FC, I went with him. I also began working closer to home, at Port Vale FC.
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March 2024
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