Jack Lester is in his 16th season as a professional footballer and is still banging in the goals at current club Chesterfield.
The former Sheffield United, Grimsby and Nottingham Forest striker has been in sparkling form for the Spireites having scored more than 50 goals in around 100 appearances.
But it is not just on the pitch that Jack is leading the way. The 34-year-old, with the aid of a PFA Education grant, is planning for the future by studying Neuro Linguistic programming.
Lawrie Madden finds out more...
Q. Tell us a little bit about Neuro Linguistic programming, or NLP for short. What interested you about it?
A. Keith Mincher was a sports psychologist when I was at Forest and he used to talk to me about it. I was fascinated by it and decided to take it up. It was useful to talk about things in the game and attempt to look at things in a different way.
Q. Can you explain a bit more about NLP?
A. It has helped me both as a person and on the field. Say, for example, a player has a bit of a confidence problem either because of the crowd reaction or feeling bad about missing a shot, then it is good to breakdown these thought processes and work at replacing them.
It’s all about you taking control, how you see things and so on.
Q. Has it helped you as a result?
A. Yes, very much. It has changed me as a person. It has helped in a lot of aspects. When I get challenges it has been better to deal with them. You don’t look to blame but take control and recognise that you do have options. It has made me more flexible in the way I look at things.
Q. How long did it take to complete your studies?
A. It was a two-year course and involved a lot of weekend work, especially during June and July. The manager gave me a few days off pre-season to complete the course which was great.
I enjoyed it very much and it didn’t feel like work. It was also interesting to see people like bankers, solicitors etc on the course.
Q. Did you get much help from the PFA?
A. They made it very easy for me. It took one phone call and they sent me the relevant forms, and when I passed the course they gave me 50 per cent towards the cost. It couldn’t have been easier really. It helped that I knew what I wanted to do but it was made easy.
Q. Do you intend to use your qualifications now that you have passed?
A. You have to be prepared for when you cannot play. I am doing my UEFA ‘B’ coaching licence but that is not the safest job. I can now practice so I can turn it into a career whether it is in sports psychology or away from sport and more into life coaching.
