At the beginning of 2021, and at the same time COVID-19 was still happening and conditioning the day-to-day life of people around the world, I was awarded with a FEPSAC Internship Grant. This provided me with the amazing opportunity of traveling to London and be part of the School of Applied Sciences at London South Bank University at the end of that same year.

During this internship, I had the opportunity of deeply learning about Human Behaviour working alongside Dr. Rita F. de Oliveira, working in different studies related with human behaviour and human perception science. This also gave me the opportunity of learning how to use a quite useful research tool and its software: the “Eye-tracker”. This granted me with experience and knowledge about research in a deeper and professional way.

Additionally, I had the occasion of assisting in some lectures and helping with the assessments of a class of students. This was an awesome and great professional experience related with teaching, which made me realize how much I would love teaching in the future.

All these great experiences happened at the same time I was starting the 3^rd year of my PhD, which was focused on mental health of female athletes. For all that, this internship helped me to improve and learn about my own path as a researcher and future PhD. Moreover, I was lucky enough to meet wonderful professionals inside the university.

I, therefore, recommend this experience to anyone who wants to learn and improve on their professional paths, and also as a way of getting out of their comfort zone and live a great experience alongside great professionals.

Noelia Agustin-Sierra

MSc Sports & Exercise Psychology

I have been working as a self-employed applied sport psychologist since I graduated from the EMSEP program in 2016. Most of my applied work was with individual athletes active in a variety of traditional sports like field hockey, speed skating, basketball, and CrossFit. To ensure my further development in the applied field, I pursued the Post-academic Program for Applied Sport Psychologists and have now obtained the Dutch sport psychology accreditation of the VSPN. In this pursuit, I was awarded the FEPSAC internship grant. I was able to work and contribute to the high-performance environment of the League of Legends Team of Rogue Sports Europe GmbH under the supervision of Ismael Pedraza in Berlin.

During the time I spent in Berlin, I was able to fully immerse myself in a new performance domain, esports. I was able to observe and shadow the work of my supervisor. I quickly learned that the work of an applied practitioner in esports takes place formally as well as
informally. I was part of the organization and delivery of activities for the players and coaching staff to enhance positive team culture and facilitate an environment for peak performance. Moreover, I was able to contribute to the creation of a development program for the coaching staff through my individual work with them. 

Thus, the couple of months I was able to spend in this organization were filled with new experiences for me. Having an embedded sport psychologist position, working in a different performance domain, focusing on staff development, and working under the direct supervision of a colleague. I am convinced that the FEPSAC internship has contributed greatly to my professional and personal development. Therefore, I would recommend anyone interested to take the opportunity to apply and broaden their horizons. I look forward to continually growing and exploring my professional path in both esports and traditional sports.

Bernadette Ramaker, MSc.
SPORTPSYCHOLOOG VSPN®

In April 2019 I was fortunate enough to be awarded one of the first FEPSAC Internship Grants. The grant afforded me with the opportunity to complete a month-long internship at Long Island University, New York. As part of the internship I delivered a guest lecture, co-authored an article, submitted an abstract for an upcoming conference and created a number of promising professional connections. I gained valuable experience in both research and applied activities, and have begun a number of collaborative projects as a result of the internship.

As a student in the final stages of my PhD it was great to have an internship to look forward to, and it has provided me with a great start to my professional career in sport psychology. Working in a new environment, meeting new people and creating opportunities for future
work have been very important steps for my development, and I’m grateful to FEPSAC for helping me on the journey. This is an opportunity I would recommend to any young researcher or practitioner hoping to gain experience and grow their network, an all-round a
great experience!

I have been a full-time, self-employed applied sport psychologist since I graduated from the EMSEP program in 2013. I have worked as a part-time sport psychologist at the football academy of Piast Gliwice (Poland) since 2018. As part of my professional development I had
an opportunity to work as an intern at FC Augsburg (Germany) under supervision of Peter Schneider, thanks to FEPSAC applied internship mobility grant. During the Fall I have visited Augsburg twice, first time at the end of September (preparatory visit) and second time in the month of November.

During the weeks I spent in Germany I had a chance to shadow daily work of my supervisor on and off the field. Up to my expectations I learnt about the existing systems in the academy, expanded my toolbox and networked with the coaching and psychology community in
Augsburg. In return, I contributed with all my knowledge, experience and passion for working in football youth academy settings. During my stay in November I was specifically assigned to work as a support staff with one of the teams, with which I spent most of my time during training and competition. I also prepared and led short workshops for the academy coaches and staff.

I am convinced that the FEPSAC internship will enrich my professional endeavors, especially in the context of working for youth academies and elite sport high schools in Poland. As a product of this internship I have recorded a podcast episode with Peter Schneider
 and a series of short Q&A videos. I have also disseminated my internship experiences in a 90 minutes presentation at a training seminar for local football coaches on December 14, 2019 in Katowice, Poland (200 attendees). Furthermore, I have turned this presentation into an article (Więcław, in press), which will be published in the upcoming months in the largest football coaches’ education journal in Poland (Asystent Trenera).

Grzegorz Więcław, MSc, SASP-FEPSAC