Ahead of the Game - West Country
30th April 2025 - 6.15 - 9.30pm
Clayesmore School
Award-winning author Sam Peters will be joined by former England Head Coach Brian Ashton MBE and former England and British Lions star Tim Stimpson, along with an expert line up of speakers, exploring the future of sport in schools.
Speakers will include former professional athletes, sports medics, researchers and administrators, connected by their mutual love of sport and those who participate in it. Other speakers confirmed so far include Tim Stimpson, Ben Pegna, and Dr Ruth Allan.
Buy your ticket here.
In partnership with:
Of the back of the publication of the award-winning Concussed - Sport’s Uncomfortable Truth - our Ahead of the Game series looks to delve deeper into what can be done to make sport safer for all that play.
Made up of a pair of panel discussions, hosted by two of sport’s leading journalists, this evening will examine what the future holds for grassroots and school sports.
The discussions will be followed by extensive Q&A from the floor. We actively encourage everyone to join the debate.
There will also be plenty of time to network, meet our speakers, as well as picking up a signed copy of Sam's book.
Click here to buy your ticket.
Meet our speakers
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Sam Peters
AUTHOR & JOURNALIST
Sam Peters is an award-winning author and former journalist who spearheaded the Mail on Sunday’s acclaimed concussion in rugby campaign.
In 2023 Sam authored ‘Concussed; Sport’s Uncomfortable Truth’, recounting the huge challenges he’s faced reporting on concussion while also highlighting player welfare failings in professional sport.
In 2024 Concussed won the UK Sports Book Award for outstanding sports writing and was shortlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year. It was also named a Times and Telegraph Book of the Year and Waterstones Sports Book of the Year.
He was twice shortlisted as rugby journalist of the year at the Sports Journalists Awards and also shortlisted for sports journalist of the year at the Press Gazette Awards.
He has since covered rugby for the Sunday Times and set up Concussed Media in 2023.
He has written two other books; The Row to Recovery and Broadside with England cricketer Stuart Broad.
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Brian Ashton MBE
ENGLAND RUGBY HEAD COACH
Brian Ashton had a playing and then coaching career in rugby that spanned five decades. A scrum half who played in England, France and Italy, he graduated to coaching in the 1980’s.
He coached Bath twice, was Head Coach of Ireland, and went on to be a key member of the backroom staff coaching England’s World Cup Winners in 2003. In 2006 he took the reins as Head Coach of England, leading the team to the 2007 World Cup Final against South Africa in Paris.
He has also worked as a coach and mentor at elite level across a number of sports including football, cricket, gymnastics, swimming and netball.
Brian was also a school teacher and has done decades of work coaching and mentoring at leading schools across the country. In addition he has coached extensively in the corporate world, especially on how to develop High Performance environments.
He is currently a Coach Development Consultant for England Rugby.
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Tim Stimpson
ENGLAND INTERNATIONAL & EUROPEAN CUP WINNER
Tim Stimpson was a full back who played for West Hartlepool, Newcastle and Leicester and won 19 England caps. Tim won Premiership titles with Newcastle Falcons and Leicester, and secured European titles with the Tigers in 2001 and 2002. In addition, his prolific place kicking saw him become the first Premiership player to score 1,000 points.
Tim is now a successful businessman and supporter of charities. Having seen the effect of former playing colleagues he is determined to ensure rugby union is made safer so it can be enjoyed by future generations.
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Dr Ruth M. Allan
BRAIN HEALTH COACH
Dr Ruth Allan has helped people with a wide range of personal development and brain health challenges. Her clients around the world have ranged from senior executives to young children, military and emergency services personnel.
Ruth has over 25 years of coaching and mentoring experience, facilitating the recovery and boosting the performance of individuals, projects and teams.
Ruth is the host of the Brain Health - Unchaining Your Pain podcast series.
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Ben Pegna
ENGLAND 7s PLAYER AND LEVEL 3 RFU COACH
Part of the 2005 England 7s squad, Ben played rugby union across the amateur and professional era at Southland (NZ), Caerphilly, London Scottish, Saracens, Henley Hawks, and the Leopards in South Africa. In addition to playing, Ben is an RFU level 3 coach, studied Strength and Conditioning at the ASCA and worked as a coaching consultant to the WRU and in Super Rugby with the Melbourne Rebels and the Bulls.
One of the founding directors of the Pacific Rugby Players Welfare (PRPW), Ben is an active member of Head for Change and was part of the team that swam across the Channel to raise funds and awareness of the organisation’s work.
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Dr Lesley McBride
PHYSIOTHERAPY RESEARCHER / LECTURER
Lesley is a physiotherapist recognised for her work in rugby union and research on cervical spine proprioception and strength. She lectured for 24 years at Coventry University having worked for the NHS and as a grassroots rugby squad physiotherapist since 1986, then serving the RFU from 2000 and England men's U19/20 squads from 2004–2017. Earning a PhD for developing a reliable protocol for neck strength measurement and applying this in professional rugby players, she is now an assistant professor teaching/research at the University of Leicester.
Collaborating internationally, she advises sporting bodies, including rugby, soccer, motorsport, and martial arts, aiming to enhance neck strength and improve concussion management in sports.
With thanks to our Partners
Clayesmore is a 125 year old independent school in Dorset, with a firm commitment to becoming a sustainable centre for educational excellence. Their mission is to be widely recognised as an innovative school which actively promotes the personal development of pupils in an inclusive and stimulating environment. Clayesmore students will have a strong sense of ethical, moral, environmental and social responsibility and will go on to become people who will make a positive impact on the lives of others.
Clayesmore has a progressive sporting programme which has lead them to explore different ways of developing and growing the game of rugby, with an emphasis on player safety. Clayesmore's coaching staff regularly attend legendary French coach, Pierre Villepreux' s Le Plaisir du Mouvement (LPM) training camps in the South of France. You can read more about that here.