Episode 160: In this episode, Steve Barrett talks to Paul Schaffran, the executive assistant of the managing director and head of strategy and youth development for Borussia Dortmund, sharing his unique journey in sports science and youth development. Paul discusses his educational background, the challenges of balancing family and career, and the innovative sports science initiatives implemented at Borussia Dortmund Academy, including bio-banding. Paul emphasizes the importance of collaboration between science and coaching, the need for a holistic approach to player development, and the significance of measuring success through both subjective and objective metrics. He also highlights the competitive landscape of German football and the club's commitment to nurturing talent from within.

-

Topics discussed

⁠•⁠ Self-Development within Sports Science •⁠ Transitioning into leadership roles •⁠ ⁠⁠Effective Bio-Banding •⁠ ⁠⁠Sports Science initiatives to support the MDT

-

Where you can find Paul:

LinkedIn Paul.schaffran@bvb.te ResearchGate -

Sponsors

VALD Performance, makers of the Nordbord, Forceframe, ForeDecks and HumanTrak. VALD Performance systems are built with the high-performance practitioner in mind, translating traditionally lab-based technologies into engaging, quick, easy-to-use tools for daily testing, monitoring and training.

Hytro The world’s leading Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) wearable, designed to accelerate recovery and maximise athletic potential using Hytro BFR for Professional Sport.

Teambuildr: A platform for any coach in any setting. Every day, thousands of coaches log into TeamBuildr to write training programs, build questionnaires and access athlete and client performance data. Teambuildr is a complete platform. Whether you're building your own programming, looking to create custom reports or give athletes a tool for accountability, they've built it out.

-

Where to Find Us

Keep up to date with everything that is going on with the podcast by following Inform Performance on:

• Instagram
• Twitter
• Our Website

-

Our Team

• Andy McDonald
• Ben Ashworth
• Alistair McKenzie
• Dylan Carmody
• Steve Barrett
• Pete McKnight