Books: On and off the field

In an arena where only performance matters, football writer Jonathan Harding advocates for the people behind elite athletes

In Australia, an establishment called the Well-Being Science Institute runs the world’s first government-accredited training programme for the well-being of elite athletes. In Jonathan Harding’s new book, Soul: Beyond the Athlete, Steve Johnson, one of the experts from this institute, says that “well-being will be to sport what strength and conditioning was 30 years ago”.

Jonathan says, “When you tell people to get better all the time, you’re not far away from telling them that they’re not good enough”

Author Jonathan Harding cites American football player Tom Brady (above) as an example of how the negative effects of sports can play with your psyche

In Jonathan Harding’s new book, Soul: Beyond the Athlete, Steve Johnson, one of the experts from this institute, says that “well-being will be to sport what strength and conditioning was 30 years ago”.

Jonathan Harding’s new book Soul questions why we don’t take the well-being of athletes seriously