Leeds Beckett University - City Campus,
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Nyall Simms
Research Assistant/Project Officer
Dr Nyall Simms is a sociologist of sport in the Carnegie School of Sport whose research examines race, disability, power and institutional practice in youth and elite sport, focusing on how sport organisations assess, select and support players, coaches and families from underrepresented groups and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). His doctoral research was a three-year qualitative longitudinal study with 45 families across three Category 1 professional football academies, and as a Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist he has contributed to commissioned research for The Football Association, the England and Wales Cricket Board and Sport England. Drawing on more than nine years of practice in elite football academy environments, he teaches the sociology of sport and research methods and, as Founder and Director of Change of Perspective CIC, translates research into inclusive coaching and SEND-focused professional development for the sport sector.
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About
Dr Nyall Simms is a sociologist of sport in the Carnegie School of Sport whose research examines race, disability, power and institutional practice in youth and elite sport, focusing on how sport organisations assess, select and support players, coaches and families from underrepresented groups and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). His doctoral research was a three-year qualitative longitudinal study with 45 families across three Category 1 professional football academies, and as a Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist he has contributed to commissioned research for The Football Association, the England and Wales Cricket Board and Sport England. Drawing on more than nine years of practice in elite football academy environments, he teaches the sociology of sport and research methods and, as Founder and Director of Change of Perspective CIC, translates research into inclusive coaching and SEND-focused professional development for the sport sector.
Dr Nyall Simms is a sociologist of sport whose research examines race, inclusion and institutional practice in youth and elite sport. At Leeds Beckett University’s Carnegie School of Sport, he worked as a Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist on commissioned research and strategic reviews for national sport governing bodies, including The Football Association and the England and Wales Cricket Board. He has also contributed to studies of inclusion in tennis and rugby union, and to an evidence-based model of anti-racist coaching practice.
His doctoral research in Sociology at the University of Leicester (2025) was a three-year qualitative longitudinal study with 45 families of Black footballers across three Category 1 professional football academies. It examined how academy assessment and talent identification practices shape the experiences of young players and their parents. This followed earlier work on the career pathways of young Black male professional footballers.
His research is grounded in nine years of practice within Category 1 football academy environments. For seven years, he taught English on a day-release basis to young players at Millwall FC and Crystal Palace FC. He now teaches BTEC Level 3 Sport and Exercise Science to scholars at Crystal Palace FC Academy. He also brings nine years of experience as a personal trainer.
Non-academic positions
Professional Development Phase Education Lead
Crystal Palace FC, England | 10 June 2024 - present
Degrees
PhD Sociology
University of Leicester, England
Postgraduate training
Associate Fellow
Advanced Higher Education, England
Research interests
Dr Simms’ research sits within the sociology of sport. It focuses on race, disability, power and institutional practice in youth and elite sport. He studies how sport organisations assess, select and respond to players, coaches, workers and families from underrepresented groups, and how these processes shape opportunity, belonging and wellbeing. His work spans five interconnected areas:
- Talent identification and academy systems: the sociology of assessment, selection and release in professional football academies. This includes how judgements of “potential”, “attitude” and “coachability” are shaped by race, class and disability.
- Parents, families and the youth sport pathway: the experiences of parents from underrepresented groups as they navigate academy structures, communicate with clubs and support their children through selection and deselection.
- Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in sport: how young players with SEND are identified, understood and supported within coaching and academy environments. This strand also examines how neurodivergence and additional needs can be misread as behavioural or attitudinal problems, and how coaches and practitioners can create inclusive, needs-led development environments.
- Racism, discrimination and inclusive practice in sport: institutional racism and exclusion, the career pathways of young footballers from underrepresented groups, and evidence-based approaches to anti-racist and inclusive coaching.
- Equality, diversity and inclusion in sport organisations: workforce diversity, governance and inclusion strategy within national governing bodies, including football, cricket, tennis and rugby union.
His approach draws on critical race theory, disability studies and interpretivist sociology. He specialises in qualitative longitudinal and participatory methods, including co-produced research with young people and families. His wider interests include safeguarding and duty of care in youth sport.
Publications (3)
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Perceptions of tennis among ethnically diverse communities
Removing Barriers to Volunteering
Written Evidence Submission to the Women and Equalities Committee Inquiry: Beyond Participation: Routes into Sport for Girls and Women
28 May 2026
Author
Fletcher T, Kilvington D, Dashper K, North A, May E, Rawson J, Ensor R, Simms N, Hall J, Rai K, Williams AProfessional activities
Dr Simms combines academic research with professional practice across the sport sector. At Leeds Beckett University’s Carnegie School of Sport, he worked as a Research Associate and Evaluation Specialist, contributing to commissioned research, evaluation and strategic review for national governing bodies and sport organisations:
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Review (The Football Association, 2022)
- Workplace Diversity in the ECB Workforce (England and Wales Cricket Board, 2023)
- An Evidence-Based Model of Anti-Racist Coaching Practice (2022)
- Perceptions of Tennis Among Ethnically Diverse Communities (2024)
- Women of Union: an insight-informed approach to supporting women in the rugby union workforce (Sport England, 2025)
- Improving Mental Health Outreach to Underrepresented Communities (Mind, 2021), where he led the young men’s research strand and steering group
He co-authored written evidence to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee inquiry “Beyond Participation: Routes into Sport for Girls and Women” (2025).
He is Founder and Director of Change of Perspective CIC, a research-led social enterprise that provides professional development and consultancy for sport, education and community organisations. Its work focuses on inclusion of young people from underrepresented groups and those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). It has developed a coaching course, “Supporting Youth Players with SEND”, which has been submitted for CIMSPA endorsement. He also works with sector partners, including NASEN, on SEND inclusion.
His practitioner experience includes nine years within Category 1 football academy environments, where he currently teaches academy scholars at Crystal Palace FC Academy, and nine years as a personal trainer.
Current teaching
Dr Simms has taught in higher education and elite sport settings, specialising in the sociology of sport and research methods.
In higher education, he taught at the University of Leicester as a Graduate Teaching Assistant alongside his doctoral research in Sociology. He has also taught at Canterbury Christ Church University. Across both institutions, he has taught undergraduate modules in the sociology of sport and in social research methods. His teaching covers:
- race, inequality and power in sport
- the sociology of talent and elite youth development
- equality, diversity and inclusion in sport organisations
- qualitative research design, interviewing, ethics and analysis
He supports students in applying sociological theory to contemporary issues in sport and in developing their own empirical research projects.
Alongside his university teaching, he has more than seven years’ experience teaching within elite football academy environments. He taught English on a day-release basis to young players at Millwall FC and Crystal Palace FC. He now teaches BTEC Level 3 Sport and Exercise Science to scholars at Crystal Palace FC Academy, including units in applied anatomy and physiology and injury prevention. This work gives him first-hand insight into the education and welfare of young athletes in elite sport.
His approach is research-informed, inclusive and attentive to learners’ lived experience. He is an Associate Fellow of Advance HE (AFHEA)
Impact
Dr Simms’ research is designed to inform and change practice across the sport sector. His impact and engagement work focuses on three areas.
Policy and governance. He co-authored written evidence to the House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee inquiry “Beyond Participation: Routes into Sport for Girls and Women” (2025). His commissioned research and strategic reviews for The Football Association, the England and Wales Cricket Board, Sport England and Mind have given these organisations evidence and recommendations to strengthen their approaches to equality, diversity, inclusion and community engagement. This includes recommendations on how sport organisations recruit, support and retain people from underrepresented groups.
Coaching and practitioner development. He contributed to an evidence-based model of anti-racist coaching practice (2022), which gives coaches and organisations a practical framework for inclusive delivery. Through Change of Perspective CIC, he translates research into professional development for coaches, academy staff and practitioners. This includes a course, “Supporting Youth Players with SEND”, which has been submitted for CIMSPA endorsement. The course equips practitioners to recognise and respond to the needs of young players with special educational needs and disabilities, rather than misreading those needs as poor attitude or behaviour.
Families and public engagement. His research gives a voice to parents and young players from underrepresented groups navigating professional football academies and wider youth sport pathways. He develops accessible resources for families, including a SEND toolkit for parents. He has contributed to public-facing outputs, including The Stories from Premier League Academies (2023) and Project UP (2024), which advocates for children with SEND to be recognised, respected and given the opportunity to thrive.
His engagement is strengthened by more than nine years of practice within Category 1 football academy environments. This allows his research to move directly into the settings it studies.
