New OU/BBC Podcast series “The Team behind The Team”

Posted on 1 September 2025 • Sport, TV and radio

A new OU/BBC podcast The Team Behind the Team, launches on BBC Sounds and BBC 5Live Sport on Monday 1 September.

The four-part series, presented by the BBC’s Katie Smith, explores what goes into helping athletes and teams perform at an elite level.

It features in-programme contributions from Open University academics whose subjects range from sports performance to coaching and sport, and exercise science.

In episode one, Professor of Sports Performance Education Ben Oakley explains how performance directors have become prominent in Olympic sports, how they attempt to implement a team’s shared values and how the role is different from being a national coach.

He said:

“Performance directors are the architects of systems to identify athletes and then create the coaching, medical and sports-science specialists that provide input to performance.”

Episode two, looks at the role of data and how it is used to inform coaching and training. In the programme Dr Ben Langdown – Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching, explains what is measured as golfers look for an edge and the potential pitfalls of data.

While Dr Nichola Kentzer, Senior Lecturer in Sport, Exercise and Coaching, explains some of the ethical dilemmas around the use of data in sport.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the focus of episode three and features Dr Mark Antrobus, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science, who has conducted research into AI and the future of sport science.

He discusses how AI is currently being used in sport and how its potential future use, while Dr Kentzer outlines the pros and cons of AI when it comes to athlete welfare.

The final episode of the series poses the question ‘Is sport becoming less human?’ Dr Alex Twitchen shares how his background in coaching and the coach/athlete relationship has changed over the years.

He said:

“Sport is essentially a competition between individuals who have feelings, emotions and empathy. With the influence of new technologies, we should be finding ways to make sport more human not less.”

This podcast series was commissioned by Broadcast and Partnerships) and is supported by the Faculty of WELS, with particular relevance to BSc (Hons) Sport, Fitness and Coaching | Open University | Q76 , Athletic development: a psychological perspective | Open University | E312 and Working with people in sport and fitness | Open University | E119

• Commissioned by Dr Caroline Ogilvie, Director, Broadcast and Partnerships

• Academic Consultants: Dr Nichola Kentzer, Dr Ben Langdown, Professor Ben Oakley

• Media Fellow: Dr Alex Twitchen

• Broadcast Project Manager: Poppy Ross

• Supporting Online Content: Steff Easom

Supporting Online Content:

Visit our Broadcast and Partnerships site where you can find an animated interactive exploring why athletic performances continue to improve and why, in specific instances, they haven’t. From improved coaching to enhanced technology and diversity on the track, The Open University experts uncover the key factors helping to advance the sport.

(NB: this site may not be live or complete prior to broadcast)