ABSTRACT
Public health has much to gain from well-designed and solidly implemented sports-based interventions to improve mental health and wellbeing. In achieving their goal, practititoners hope to further stimulate critical enquiry of the evidence based reflection on practice and force precision in future development of programmes to improve mental health and wellbeing of those involved sport. The Optimum Performance Programme in Sports (TOPPS) has also been implemented in a randomised controlled trial showing improvements in mental health outcomes with American college athletes. It remains to be seen however whether TOPPS could be effective outside America where the student athlete support services and culture around college sport varies. D. Woods and G. Breslin brought attention to the benefits of the researcher engaging in reflections on their role in the evaluating mental health in sport programmes in prison settings, and the challenges that extreme or unconventional research environments present.
