Jon Brain

Jon Brain is a Safe Sport researcher in the 'Safeguarding Sport & Society' research line at Thomas More University of Applied Sciences in Antwerp, Belgium.

Jon currently coordinates Safe Football Allies, a four-year research project funded by the Oak Foundation. The project is developing and evaluating a season-long safeguarding education programme for elite youth football in Belgium, building on the evidence-informed Safe Sport Allies bystander intervention. The project works collaboratively with key organisations across Belgian football and sport, including the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA), Voetbal Vlaanderen, Football Francophone Amateur, the Belgian Sport Ministries, Ghent University and Sportieq, with the aim of embedding safeguarding into everyday academy practice and contributing to sustainable cultural change within Belgian football.

Jon has a practitioner–researcher profile, combining his academic work with professional practice in sport and performance psychology. He is a registered Practitioner Psychologist with the UK Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and holds a Professional Doctorate in Sport and Exercise Psychology from the University of Portsmouth (UK). His doctoral research focused on the development and application of sport psychology practice within esports.

Beyond his work in safeguarding, Jon’s research interests include sport psychology professional practice and development, cultural sport psychology, and esports psychology. His research explores how practitioners develop and adapt their practice across different cultural, sporting and performance contexts. His work has examined practitioner transitions between traditional sport and esports, culturally situated practice, psychological support within professional esports environments, and the evolving roles and competencies of practitioners working in emerging performance domains.

Alongside his research, Jon has applied experience across elite and high-performance sport. His background includes working within the first-team environments of KRC Genk and Coventry City Football Club, as well as providing sport psychology support to athletes and teams across a range of sports and performance levels. This applied experience informs his research and his broader interest in bridging the gap between evidence and practice within complex sporting environments.
 

• Brain, J., Quartiroli, A., & Wagstaff, C. R. (2024). Transitioning from traditional sport to Esport: Exploring sport psychology practitioners’ experiences. The Sport Psychologist, 38(4), 280-291. https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.2024-0074
• Brain, J., Hunter, H., Franklin, G., Quartiroli, A., Wagstaff, C., & Brown, D. (2024). Two confessional tales of trainee sport psychology practitioners’ experiences of operating in Trinidad and Tobago. The Sport Psychologist, 38(4), 271-279. https://doi.org/10.1123/tsp.2024-0018
• Brain, J., Wright, O., Quartiroli, A., & Wagstaff, C. R. D. (2024). Sport Psychology Practitioners’ Contributions to the Drafting Process of a Professional Esports Team: A Case Study. Case Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology, 8(1), 55–65. https://doi.org/10.1123/cssep.2023-0045
• Brain, J., Wright, O., Quartiroli, A., & Wagstaff, C. R. D. (2024). Supporting a National Team During the Overwatch World Cup: Three Confessional Tales. Case Studies in Sport and Exercise Psychology, 8(S1), S1-28-S1-35. https://doi.org/10.1123/cssep.2023-0034