Ashton appoints mental skills coach

By Red Rose
July 4 2007

A mental skills coach has joined the England backroom staff ahead of the 2007 World Cup in France. Dr Steve Peters worked with the players at their training camp in Portugal and will stay with them throughout their preparations. Coach Brian Ashton believes he can make a big difference to the team’s fortunes in France.

Ashton told BBC Radio Five Live: "Steve had the whole squad enthralled when he spoke to them for an hour and a half on Friday. "He has now done one-on-ones with more than half the squad. Some of the players, even the most experienced ones, have been to see him twice." Former England coach Clive Woodward famously used a visual awareness coach and a video analyst on the way to winning the World Cup in 2003. Had England failed, of course, the idea would have been ridiculed, but because Woodward’s side won the competition, his ideas were hailed as breakthroughs in team sport management.Dr Peters is a former forensic psychiatrist who has previously helped British cyclists to win a string of international titles.Ashton added: “After meeting Steve, I was pretty sure this guy would be of interest to the players and could help them. "A lot of them want to continue their work with him. I've been very impressed with him and hope he can continue to work with us up to and even after the World Cup."After the squad spent some time with the Royal Marines before going to Portugal, Ashton has also added RM instructor Dave Sylvester to his staff until the end of the World Cup. The coach described the Marines camp as excellent and added: “It was better than I thought it would be and the Marine instructors were absolutely outstanding. They devised some really interesting tasks that put the players under physical and mental pressure.
"At the end of each day we had a debrief, going through the whole group of players. On the last day they gave me a report sheet on each player that they use on their courses.”