Dr Adam Gledhill is a Visiting Fellow in Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences at Loughborough University with an international research profile in the areas of talent development in sport, and sport injury psychology. With a passion for helping empower people, teams and organisations to maximise health and performance across education and sport, Adam has over 25 years’ experience in various education and performance sport roles. His performance sport roles have included Head of Sport Science in professional women’s football, Head of Psychosocial Development within the English girls’ football talent pathway, and most recently as a consultant with the Swedish Ice Hockey Association. His world view is that people come first, kindness matters, and that health, wellbeing and performance are complementary qualities as opposed to competing demands.
Adam is a Chartered Psychologist with the British Psychological Society, an accredited member of the Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences, a Science Council Chartered Scientist, and a Fellow of Advance HE. He is a previous recipient of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences Applied Practitioner Award and, in 2019, was granted Fellowship of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences in recognition of his services to sport and exercise science.
Adam has active national and international research collaborations spanning talent development in sport, athlete health, and sport injury psychology. As a pragmatic researcher-practitioner, he enjoys working collaboratively with key stakeholders to address real-world challenges that can help make people’s lives better. Adam’s research has underpinned education and training initiatives for various professional bodies and sporting national governing bodies, and has informed national trauma prevention initiatives.
Adam is a former Chair of the British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences Division of Psychology, is the current Editor of The Sport and Exercise Scientist, an Associate Editor with British Journal of Sports Medicine, and an Associate Editor with Case Studies in Sport and Performance Psychology. Adam has also made several contributions to professional and education standards. He sits as a member of the Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences Higher Education Endorsement Scheme Advisory Group, having co-authored the two most recent iterations of the undergraduate endorsement scheme since 2017, and led the initial development of the postgraduate endorsement scheme. Further, Adam has also co-authored the last five editions of the British Association of Sports Rehabilitators and Trainers Education Framework. Finally, Adam has held various education consultancy roles, including supporting education organisations in Europe, Africa, and Asia design, develop and deliver UK-based qualifications to support international student portability and opportunity. Adam has also offered invited commentary and expert opinion on various matters associated with talent development in football and elite football performance for several mainstream media outlets, including the BBC and BT Sport.
Adam has a passion for publishing work for a wide range of audiences, on a breadth of topics, and in a variety of ways. He has written over 100 book chapters, edited two international texts, delivered over 30 conference presentations (including 11 invited conference presentations or keynote talks), led the authorship of two funded expert statements, has contributed to evidence to the DCMS on major sporting and cultural events, and has led or co-authored over 40 journal articles.