EP106: Maria Bertelli OLY (Professional Athlete and Coach)

University of Staffordshire's Performing Under Pressure Podcast · Apr 2, 2026 · 1h 11m

Maria Bertelli is a former elite footballer and volleyball player. She played football for clubs such as Charlton Athletic, reading the Women's FA Cup final in 2007. Maria also represented Team GB at the London 2012 Olympic Games, and has since gone on to coach volleyball at the University of Derby and for Darkstar.

In this episode, she outlines how she coped, and continues to cope, with the demands of life in elite sport. Maria tells hosts Dr Paul Mansell and Jason Wright about her views on effective leadership, social support in top-level sport, and why having a sport psychologist was so…