Our mission is to help people upgrade performance, on and off the pitch.

Founded in 2009, the Southern Academy of Sport has helped thousands of athletes level up their performance, working with athletes from Recreational Adults, Youth, to High Potential and High Performance, including international athletes in 24 sports, UFC fighters, Olympians and Commonwealth athletes.

We believe that sport and physical activity offer a vehicle for improvement throughout an individual's life. We have helped several young athletes secure academic scholarships at schools and universities, and work with companies and organisations to apply the principles of high performance sport to the performance and wellbeing of their teams.

Our goal is to facilitate autonomy and self-reliance in our athletes, and so education is at the heart of our services. We structure this education through the four foundations of performance: Movement, Nutrition, Mindset and Recovery.

Movement

Nutrition

Mindset

Recovery

Joe Alford

Joe graduated from the University of Exeter in 2006, where he gained a BSc in Exercise Science.

During his career, he been responsible for the development of athletes from over thirty sports, at levels ranging from youth athletes to Olympians and professional athletes in sports including athletics, equestrian and the UFC.

Joe is the Academy's Founder and CEO, and his role is to develop a high-performance team of practitioners whose goals is to leave everyone they work with in a measurably better place.

Joe Hunt

Joe is a graduate of the University of Portsmouth, with a BSc in Sport and Exercise Science and an MSc in Strength, Conditioning & Rehabilitation.

Joe has experience in professional football, having spent a year on placement with Portsmouth FC.

As Lead Strength and Conditioning coach, Joe heads up programming and coaching throughout the academy, and is also Lead for our Chippenham Town FC provision.

Tom Easen

Tom is a Chartered Physiotherapist, graduating with a BSc in Physiotherapy from Keele University.

Tom is the Academy's medical partner alongside his role with the Ministry of Defence, where his experience has included rehabilitating injured soldiers at Headley Court.

Tom runs a private clinic from the Academy's headquarters, as well as leading medical provision for Bath Rugby Women.

Jaz Barraclough

Jaz coaches in the academy facility after a successful undergraduate placement in 2022.

She has since graduated from the University of Bath with a BSc in Sports Scieince, and is undertaking an MSc in Sports Rehabilitation, pursuing her passion for helping injured athletes.

Liv Taylor

Liv joined the Academy for the 24/25 academic year on placement from the University of Bath. She is a Level 2 qualified coach and coaches in the academy facility and our partnership with Wiltshire Cricket.

Liv has been an academy athlete for the past three years, playing a leading role in Bath Rugby Women's sevens program.

Conor Scott

Conor graduated from Bath Spa University with a BSc in Psychology and gained an MSc in Sports Psychology from the University of Staffordshire.

A former MMA fighter and current rugby player, Conor coaches at the Academy's facility as well as contributing to the design and delivery of athlete education provision.