The Player Support Story
The concept of Player Support Services Ltd was not initiated merely as a business idea. PSS was created out of necessity for the needs of elite performers. Inspired by his experiences leaving the army with severe PTSD, Dr. Simon MStJ founded Player Support Services Ltd as a well-being coaching business to help elite athletes during and after their sports careers.
Dr Simon Le Clerc MStJ, a Senior Consultant Physician in Emergency and Pre-Hospital Emergency Medicine and former Medical Director of The Great North Air Ambulance Service served 24 years in the British Army, working predominantly with expeditionary and elite forces. Dr. Simon was a proud front-line medic, triaging casualties at the scene of major incidents, performing surgical procedures, anesthesia, blood transfusions, and other life-saving interventions, often in conflict zones and under enemy fire.
In 2020, he was discharged with severe combat-related PTSD. After performing at an elite level and being one of only a few people in the world serving in his role, Dr. Simon was left to figure out the next stage in his life with little assistance or support. “I had a close-knit community of friends in the military. I’d only ever been a doctor. I’d only ever been an officer in the army. I was broken and was left having to figure out life on my own.
After being discharged, Dr. Simon worked as an executive coach while simultaneously trying to live with his PTSD and being a good family man.
Simon became keenly aware of the common characteristics, needs, and issues of peak performers as his daughter climbed the ranks as a junior tennis player. After many talks with her coaches, ex-British tennis professionals, he recognized the experience of high-level athletes was very similar to his experiences of helping elite soldiers transition from the military.
Many of these elite athletes fell by the wayside and lacked the support they needed to thrive after sport. Over time, through his work and recognizing his mission to help others, Dr. Simon was introduced to numerous professional soccer and rugby players, NBA, NFL, and MLB players, as well as former Olympians. Sadly, he recognized that, regardless of the sport involved, the underlying theme was the same across all levels and disciplines. Even elite athletes feel treated as commodities by the sports industry they love. When everything is going well, life feels pretty good, but as things start to go off the boil, the industry can be a brutal mistress. Athletes' lives are as meaningful as the industry decides; careers can be made (and destroyed) based on a single decision made by a single person and can have far-reaching consequences well beyond those of an athlete's competitive future.
Over and over, Dr. Simon was told, "We wish we'd had somebody like you! We trained our entire life as athletes competed professionally, and, eventually, our athletic careers were over. Now, what do we do?"
Through a chance networking meeting in the US, Dr. Simon met JJ Weber, M.Ed., a specialist in the field of Sports Psychology who worked with injured athletes.
JJ worked with professional teams and athletes for several decades, including many concussed and injured athletes. Many of JJ's clients experienced the same loss of identity, career confusion, and fear of the future.
Dr Simon and JJ shared the same vision. Both held the unshakable opinion that athletes are more than what they do, more than wins and losses and more than a ranking. They recognized that if we can help them get their personal transition support right, then athletes will go on to achieve incredible and fulfilling futures, safe in the knowledge that they have a life-long safety net for themselves and their families.
Together, they expanded the idea of helping athletes transition out of sport into a comprehensive, bespoke resource network that supports athletes, coaches, sports organizations, athletes' spouses/ partners, and families through every phase of their lives and on an individual basis.
Recognizing the importance of a holistic and transformative leadership approach, PSS created a network of vetted and trusted partners that shared the same values and passion to make a difference in the lives of athletes.
