Lea is a Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Cardiff Metropolitan University. Lea joined the School of Sport & Health Sciences in September 2018, following a one-year postdoctoral fellowship in the Sport Psychology Research Laboratory at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. Previously, while completing a PhD in the area of Sport Psychology  focused on youth athletes’ positive psychological development, Lea held a four-year Graduate Teaching Assistant position at Leeds Beckett University where she taught on the BSc (Hons) Sport Coaching degree.​

Lea has an emerging research profile that focusses on the positive development of youth athletes by teaching coaches and parents how to promote athletes’ psychological development through sport. Additionally, she has been actively involved in coach education projects in the UK and around the world. Her passion for research and education within this field emerged from Lea's background as a German national youth tennis player and Deutscher Tennis Bund (DTB) accredited Level 3 coach. Lea is currently working towards becoming a Chartered Psychologist of the British Psychological Society (BPS), a registered Practitioner Psychologist with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC), Lawn Tennis Association parent education tutor, and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). 

Lea is also the Welfare officer to Cardiff Met Tennis who can be contacted at any point, information found through our safeguarding page.