Sport psychologist

Ben Steyn has been working as a sport psychologist in a part-time practice for 35 years and is registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa as a counselling psychologist. He has extensive experience in preparing individuals and teams for national and international competitions, including various national teams and participants in the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, and other international events. He was one of the first sport psychologists in South Africa with Prof Potgieter of Stellenbosch to be officially appointed to prepare an Olympic Team for participation in Barcelona. Ben Steyn has also been involved in preparing teams for international competitions in Namibia and was invited to prepare their teams for international events and the 2000 Olympic Team. Here is a list of the South African national teams that were prepared for international competitions:

• Men’s underwater hockey team
• Protea netball and O/21 netball team
• Shooting team
• Wheelchair basketball team
• Cadet wrestling team
• All codes of the Para-Olympic team Sydney 2000
• Common Wealth Games 2002 bowling-, netball-, and rowing teams
• Some of the swimming participants for the upcoming Olympic Games

Academic career

Ben Steyn is a C3 researcher rated by the NRF and has generated 55 peer-reviewed publications. He presented 28 international conference research papers and posters in several countries, along with 18 national conference papers in South Africa. Additionally, he supervised 15 doctoral and 16 master’s degree students, and led the development of various academic programs. Moreover, he served as a guest lecturer at Nanyang University in Singapore and the Vrije Universiteit van Brussels in Belgium, and received 6 NRF grants for research and international congresses.

Lectures, workshops & seminars

He has given lectures at 20 symposiums, conducted 89 workshops, and led 164 training seminars. Additionally, he is involved in corporate team building with elite managers in South Africa and has collaborated with various corporate teams in diverse settings.