About

I have 30 years experience of working in elite sports, coaching and education. In that time I have been lucky enough to:

• lecture in sports coaching and applied sport science
• work as an applied sport scientist with many high-performance teams and individual athletes 
• performance manage a range of successful talent development programmes
• serve on the board of directors of three NGBs 

I am now passionate about how we can provide better coaching and mentoring for both talented athletes and sports practitioners (coaches/support staff/administrators). I try and express this in my teaching, my personal research and supporting/supervising other researchers.

I am currently working on projects that are looking at :

• how drawing on concepts from applied philosophy can challenge and enhance our work with talented young athletes
• how we develop a professional practice that is more holistic, wise and meaningful
• how we can better engage professional practitioners in making sense of their world through research and reflection

Teaching responsibilities

I am currently teaching across a range of undergraduate and postgraduate modules in sports coaching and applied sports science. My teaching primarily focuses on the development of the knowledge, attributes and skills you need to be an effective practitioner. In addition, I lecture on working with talented athletes and the issues sport faces in supporting them appropriately. 

I am working closely with colleagues to develop new postgraduate opportunities for professional practitioners to undertake research through a professional doctorate.  

Professional interests

In addition to working at the University of Derby, I also work as an independent consultant and executive coach. I work with clients in the worlds of sport, business, education and the military both in the UK and abroad e.g. the Premier League and NATO. 

Research interests

My current research interests touch on the following areas:

• The philosophies that underpin our talent programmes in the UK. Exactly why do we run them and why should we run them? The UK has more than 250,000 young people in talent academies at any one time. I believe that understanding why we run those academies is important
• Can we design education and research programmes that bridge the gap between science and professional practice? If we want better evidence-supported practice in a wide range of areas (e.g. coaching or applied sport science) how do we help practitioners to access the support they need?
• How do we become better at mentoring people to enhance their personal practice? Mentoring has an important role to play in developing people. How do we become better at it?
• Why do we become sports practitioners? What are the philosophies that influence our thinking and our practice? Our own personal philosophies about what we are trying to achieve as practitioners have a huge impact on how we behave. All practitioners need to better understand their personal values and what motivates them

Membership of professional bodies

• British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences
• European Mentoring and Coaching Council 

Qualifications

• BA Combined Studies (Sport Studies and Psychology) - Manchester Metropolitan University
• BSc (Hons) Sport Science - Manchester Metropolitan University
• Post-graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching and Mentoring
• DSE - University of Gloucestershire (Talent Development - roles, conflicts and philosophies)

Recent conferences

In the last few years, I have presented at a range of academic and professional conferences on the topics of talent development, mentoring and professional practice. Examples are:

• Borrie,A, Miles,A, Hooton,A, Chandler,C and Watson,P. (in progress) The Applied Sport and Exercise Practitioner. Routledge: London
• Borrie,A. & Ryall,E. (in progress) Making reflective practice meaningful. In Reflective Practice: Critical Perspectives, Pedagogy, and Applied Case Studies in the Sport & Exercise Sciences (Ed Cropley,B., Knowles,Z.,  Miles,A. and Huntley,E.) Routledge: London
• Borrie A. (2022) Reflections on personal development within a Professional Doctorate: what development framework is appropriate? UKCGE 5^th International Conference in Developments in Doctoral Education (April, online)
• Borrie,A. (2021) Developing a learning portfolio. Premier League Elite Academy Managers conference. St George’s Park, Burton
• Borrie, A (2021) Performance Literacy as a Transformative concept. Culture, Continuity and Transformation Conference, University of Gloucestershire, Online, Sept
• Borrie,A and Miles, A. (2021) Meeting the challenge of introducing L8 thinking in a diverse context: a new approach. UK Council for Graduate Education (UKCGE) International Conference on Professional & Practice Based Doctorates. Online, Feb
• Borrie,A & Padley,S (2021) Towards a concept of Performance Literacy. IPLA Annual Conference, International Physical Literacy Association, Online, Nov
• Borrie, A (2019) Talent Development in the UK: Roles, philosophies and conflicts. Research Symposium, University of Gloucestershire.
• Borrie, A and Padley, S (2019) Performance Literacy: An emerging concept. International Coaching Conference, University of Worcester
• Borrie A (2018) Coaching & Mentoring: lessons from high-performance sport. Command Sergeant Majors Conference, Omagh Barracks, Aldershot
• Borrie, A (2018) Innovation in high-performance sport. Lane 4 and Anglian Water Talent Development Programme, Loughborough
• Borrie, A.(2017) There is no such thing as the role of the coach: we should focus on the process not the person. High-Performance Coaching Conference, University of Gloucestershire
• Borrie, A (2016) Talent: The UK landscape. Sport England Talent Insights Expert Panel Workshop, Loughborough University
• Borrie, A (2015) The Science underpinning Performance. Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee ‘Aiming for Gold in 2022’ Symposium, Riyadh

Experience in industry

During my career, I have worked outside of academia in a number of roles. I have been on the board of directors of three sports in the UK;-

• England Netball (including work on the Netball Superleague Management Committee) ~2008-2011
• Great Britain Hockey  ~ 2010-2018
• British Basketball ~ 2018-2019

Recently I have worked as a consultant with companies such as:

• M2M2 Ltd - providing coaching and mentoring programmes and support for a range of clients in the military and education 
• Premier League - working with Heads of Coaching in professional soccer clubs as part of the Premier League Mentoring group
• CSM Ltd (an international sports consultancy group) ~ working on a number of projects in the Middle East providing reviews of a national sport systems 

International experience

I have worked professionally in a range of countries including South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. My work in these countries was as either as a consultant to review sporting organisations/systems or as an applied sport scientist supporting elite teams and performers.

Recent publications

In the past decade I have published in a range of areas including peer-review journals and books as well as contributing many written professional evaluation and technical reports:

• Borrie, A, Miles,A, Hooton,A, Chandler,C and Watson,P. (in progress) The Applied Sport and Exercise Practitioner. Routledge: London
• Borrie, A. & Ryall,E. (in progress) Making reflective practice meaningful. In Reflective Practice: Critical Perspectives, Pedagogy, and Applied Case Studies in the Sport & Exercise Sciences (Ed Cropley,B., Knowles,Z.,  Miles,A. and Huntley,E.) Routledge: London
• Borrie, A. (2019). Talent development, existential philosophy and sport: on becoming an elite athlete. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 46(2), 292-295
• Borrie, A. (2018) Preparing Girls for Lifelong Physical Activity. Physical Education Matters, Spring Edition
• Simpson E, Wombwell S, Fletcher D, Wergan S, Borrie A, Emmett J, Rand M (2016) Towards an Understanding of the Talent Landscape in English Sport. Report commissioned by Sport England
• Brown DJ, Fletcher D, Henry I, Borrie A, Emmett J, Buzza A, Wombwell S (2015) A British university case study of the transitional experiences of student-athletes. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 1-13
• Rowbotham, H., Davis, M. and Borrie, A. (2015) Elite Saudi Athlete Programme: Final report and recommendations. Report presented to Saudi Arabian Olympic Committee