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You can be a serious athlete and still build a real life outside sport, without treating it like a backup plan. Coach David sits down with Noor, a semi-pro footballer and creative, for a candid conversation about what it takes to keep going when the path is messy, the opinions are loud, and the goal keeps changing.

Noor shares her journey from being born in Egypt to moving to Switzerland at five, playing football in a world where girls’ teams had far less visibility, and pushing through the early experience of always being the one picked last. From a top women’s club setup in Switzerland to studying graphic design at Loughborough University, she explains how sport, education, and creativity can be designed to feed each other, not compete for your time. We also talk about UK academy culture, getting humbled, earning minutes, and the role of football friendships as a real support system.

The conversation goes deeper into the growth of women’s sport, the pressure of online comments, and why comparing women’s football to men’s football misses what athletes are actually doing mentally and physically. Noor gives an honest take on women’s sports sponsorship, branding, and why performance does not always get rewarded the way it should. We finish with resilience, consistency, communication under pressure, and the reality of moving clubs from Brentford to Actonians while navigating trials and uncertainty.

If you care about athlete mindset, women’s football, resilience, sports marketing, and building a career beyond the athlete identity, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave us a review. What part of Noor’s journey hit you most?

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What happens when a footballer who trained alongside Victor Moses, Wilfried Zaha and Sean Scannell doesn’t get the professional contract? For Kieran Kenlock, it became the beginning of something far more powerful.

In Episode 35 of Beyond the Athlete, Coach David sits down with writer, creative director and founder of Good Villains studio, Kieran Kenlock, a man who turned the pain of being released from Crystal Palace’s academy at 18 into a career telling the stories the world hasn’t heard yet.

They go deep on:

🎙️ Growing up and discovering the power of words when you couldn’t put two sentences together.

⚽ Being scouted for Crystal Palace at 13 and what it really takes to go professional.

💡 Finding creativity after football, from Nike Town London to top tier ad agencies.

🎬 Building Good Villains, balancing commercial work with authentic storytelling.

🏆 His film Chasing Shadows and why grassroots stories hit harder than highlight reels.

🤖 The future of creative storytelling, AI, and what the next generation gets right.

🔥 Why consistency always beats perfection

Kieran is the kind of creative who doesn’t just talk about culture, he builds it. From writing for Soccer Bible to working with Nike, FIFA, Jordan Brand and CAF, his journey is a masterclass in pivoting with purpose.

This one is for the athletes who didn’t make it, the creators building something from nothing, and anyone trying to find their lane beyond what the world told them they were.

🎙️ Beyond the Athlete is a platform built to amplify voices, celebrate grassroots culture and explore the life beyond sport.

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A teenage kid in North West London records his games, sends film to 50 schools in the United States, and gets one call back. That yes turns into high school football, a college scholarship in Florida, and then the part nobody romanticises: injury, burnout, and the moment you realise your future in sport might not look like you imagined.

We sit down with the founder and director of XL Performance to talk about the real mechanics behind athlete development and sports coaching. We get into why American football in the UK is growing fast, from NFL London visibility to the rise of flag football as a more accessible entry point. We also explore what makes the sport genuinely inclusive, how young players can find roles that fit their body type, and why grassroots communities matter just as much as big stadium moments.

Then we go behind the scenes on building a performance training business in London. We talk about starting with low-cost sessions, the pressure of pitch hire and petrol, learning how to monetise a niche sport without shutting talented kids out, and how COVID pushed the programme to train outdoors and grow through consistency. We also cover leadership, role models, and how we support athletes who do not make it to the NFL Academy or the US pipeline, so they still have a way to win.

If you care about American football training, strength and conditioning culture, and building a pathway that changes lives, press play. Subscribe, share this with a coach or athlete, and leave a review with the biggest lesson you’re taking from the conversation.

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Instagram Links:
Beyond The Athlete - https://instagram.com/beyondtheathletepod?utm_source=qr
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