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The men's Six Nations get underway on Friday whilst current champions Ireland start their defence by welcoming England and their newly appointed captain Maro Itoje. When not leading his nations rugby team Maro collects African art and funds innovative schemes to help those who need help to attain the education they deserve. Born in North London to Nigerian parents Maro he's been telling Sportshour's Katie Smith about his life off the pitch and work the work of his charitable foundation. From catches to crops, tackles to tilling and football to farming! For many a career in the NFL is what their entire life is primed for. But it can leave some, even those who achieve their dream feeling hollow, their life lacking meaning beyond the playing field. At the age of 29 and after seeing out a record-breaking contract that made him the best paid player in his position, in the NFL, he walked away from the game and into one of the worlds hardest professions. That is when Jason Brown the football star became Jason Brown the farmer. He has been telling Sportshour’s Katie Smith, early one morning from his fruit farm in North Carolina, about his remarkable story and about the two million tons of food he gives away annually for free. The Premier League's winter transfer window has been open throughout January... but on Monday... it closes... Or slams shut if you prefer! So, this weekend marks a frantic and final opportunity for players to complete a move. So, who better to speak to than football agent Barry Silkman. Barry has been an agent for many years having had a successful career in the lower reaches of English football, although he also made a handful of appearances at Manchester City. After his career ended Barry realised there was a lack of player advocacy and so he set about helping other players get contracts. His client list over the years is illustrious and very nearly included finalising a deal for Newcastle United to buy Zinedine Zidane! As if football wasnt enough, Barry spread his wing into the world of entertainment and took several famous singers under his wing, including Rod Stewart and Phil Collins. PHOTO: England captain Maro Itoje (CREDIT: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

Unlike basketball's NBA and WNBA the sport of women's American tackle football is under developed. Women and men play flag football which is a non- variant of the game you'll see at the LA Olympics in three years, but there is no professional female equivalent to the NFL. But back in 2019, history was planned with the creation of the professional "Women's Football League Association". Santia Deck was chosen to be the face of the league. She signed a $1 million dollar contract. Her life was about to change forever. Five years on and without a game played or a dollar paid she tells Sportshour's Katie Smith how that dream was cruelly snatched away from her. Christian Jeffery is an artist who has found an amazing way to combine his artistic flair and a love of football. Using football kits as his canvas, he takes the familiar strips from the world’s biggest clubs and embellishes and embroiders them to create the most remarkable, glorious and unique creations. He explains the process and his inspirations and what the stars of the Premier League make of his creations. This might be a sport that you might think is illegal! It sounds something out of Victorian times but the fully regulated and completely legal sport of Bare Knuckle Boxing is alive and well in 2025. In fact this weekend in Philadelphia as part of "KnuckleMania V" the BKFC bare knuckle boxing heavyweight world champion, Britain's Mick Terrill, will defend his title. He's been explaining a bit about the sport, from the blood and guts to what's in place to keep them safe, and why the sport is growing in popularity (Photo: Santia Deck poses with an American football. Credit: Santia Deck/instagram.com/trackbaby001)

For a long time, professional wrestling was the domain of men. Stars like The Undertaker and The Rock ruled the ring and our TV screens, but now it's the women of WWE who are making just as big an impact. Whilst a debate over what part wresting is a sport, or just entertainment, what can't be denied is the supreme fitness these athletes achieve in pursuit of their art, and the love they receive from millions and millions of fans all over the world. Newly crowned WWE's Women's champion Chelsea Green told Sportshour's Katie Smith about the subtle but important difference between Chelsea the person and Chelsea the persona in the ring, and how she's 'empowered' by starring in a male dominated world. Some people enjoy life on the edge and for highliners it’s an edge they cross – quite literally. Highlining involves walking on a line (think slack lining but higher up) anchored at two points high above a gap such as between mountains, buildings or bridges, while harnessed to a back-up safety line. It is both spectacular to see and do, but on the face of it incredibly dangerous. Scottish highliner Owen Hope tells us what life on the line is like and how any risks are minimized by a strict safety routine. Sport stars are busy people, always on the go but sometimes they make exceptional efforts to speak to you even when they have other things going on... This was definitely the case when I caught up with double Olympic sailing gold medallist Martine Grael! Martine was making the long trip from her home in Brazil to New Zealand ahead of the first SailGP race of 2025. As well as this being the first time Brazil have had a boat in the championship, Martine has become the first female 'driver' to lead a team in the competition's history. So although going through the airport is not an ideal setting to talk about her status as a pioneer, we did it anyway! Photo: Chelsea Green acknowledges the crowd during SmackDown at Amalie Arena on December 27, 2024 in Tampa, Florida. (Credit: WWE/Getty Images)

Former tennis professional Louise Pleming was travelling the globe as a tennis commentator and elite coach when her life took an unexpected turn. The Australian met Brian Turton whilst she was volunteering at a soup kitchen. Brian had always dreamt of a professional tennis career but instead he found himself living on the streets. Louise tells Sportshour’s Katie Smith how that chance meeting sparked a friendship which had a hugely beneficial effect on them both and many communities in Australia. It led to Louise setting up the charity Rally4Ever which uses tennis to help people get back on their feet. Who will playing in Super Bowl LIX is still to be determined but that journey starts later on Saturday with the play offs and "Wildcard Weekend". To get you in the mood we are going to head back more than 80 years ago, to a "Bowl" game with a difference. With D-Day looming, 50,000 people watched an American football game featuring NFL and Canadian Football League stars at White City in London in the game that briefly stopped World War II. All these years latter it has been brought to life by Anthony Wootton in his book "The Greatest American Football Story that has Never Been Told" All good things must come to an end, and for Major League Soccer players that's Saturday! MLS teams like Real Salt Lake are assembling for the first time for pre season training ahead of the start of the League in February. So what does a player do with his precious time off, and what can they expect on that first day back? Real's centre back Philip Quinton talks us through it. He also talks about his ion for the environment. He is part of the EcoAthletes collective, a non-profit that inspires and coaches athletes to lead climate action. Photo: A group of participants from RALLY4EVER’s Sydney programs after a pickleball lesson from tennis legend Andre Agassi, Justin Gimelstob and Louise Pleming CREDIT: @raquelpires_photography/https://rally4ever.org/)

NBA star Victor Wembanyama playing one-on-one with fans in a New York park is something you would not expect – even more so when it was not basketball he was playing, but chess. Sportshour’s Katie Smith meets Dylan Rittman, one of Wembanyama’s chess opponents for an unlikely duel in the park. With the new world darts champion crowned, what impact is the sport having around the world? South Africa's nine-time World Championship participant Devon Petersen shares his thoughts and how he’s using darts to help young people with their maths. James Cooper ran a marathon every single day in 2024 for charity, so after 366 marathons in 366 days, how does he feel now the challenge is completed? It's the start of a new year so the time when many people may decide to make new year's resolutions, but trying to keep them is not always easy. Dr Kimberley Dawson, a professor in sport psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada, shares her tips on achieving goals. And find out about the sport of Tiro en Braille which started in a university classroom in Mexico. Image: San Antonio Spurs player Victor Wembanyama playing chess in Washington Square Park in New York. (Credit: Dylan Rittman)

***This episode contains discussions and references to extreme violence, sexual violence and domestic abuse. If you are suffering distress or despair and need , you could speak to a health professional, or an organisation that offers . Details of help available in many countries can be found at Befrienders Worldwide: befrienders.org*** Tracy Otto's life was changed forever one night in 2019. Back then she was a student at the University of Tampa and an aspiring fitness model. An unprovoked attack by her ex-boyfriend left her with horrific injuries - she was paralyzed from the chest down with limited use of her arms and hands, and the loss of her left eye. It was the sport of archery that helped Tracy get her life back on track. She tells us her story and about a magical Paris experience. Team GB's cyclist Neah Evans spilled the beans on the behind-the-scenes secrets of the Games. The things only athletes would know about! From life in the Olympic village to what goes on at the Opening Ceremony or rather doesn't! When Jack Eyers had his right leg amputated at just 16 years old, he never expected it would open up a world of opportunity that has taken him from film sets to catwalks and now to the Paralympic podium in Paris. The British Para-canoer told me about how his amputation has given him the chance to challenge stereotypes. In Paris, 12 years after he was a performer at the London 2012 Opening Ceremony, he claimed Paralympic silver in the men’s Para-canoe. US women’s scrum half Alena Olsen on channelling the heart break of missing out on the Tokyo Games, by putting in everything she can into making the Paris Olympics, as part of the US Women’s Sevens squad. She's been telling Sportshour's Caroline Barker that despite being a part of the bronze medal winning World Cup team in 2022, she knows her Olympic dreams still hang in the balance. A ionate environmentalist, Alena is a member of EcoAthlets (www.ecoathletes.org) a collaboration of likeminded sports stars determined to do what they can for the environment. Photo: Otto Tracy of USA during Para Archery Women's Individual W1 Round of Sixteen on day 3 of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games with fiancé Rick (CREDIT: Matteo Ciambelli/DeFodi Images via Getty Images)

We come full circle on a story we first covered in 2016 when we visited the exercise yard at San Quentin State prison in California. It houses the highest number of death row inmates in America but also has a sport sporty program designed to rehabilitate those who hope one day to be released. Rahsaan Thomas was one of those to benefit from the scheme. Released in 2023 we catch up with him to see how he is getting on after 23 years behind bars and how he has already continued his sporting life by completing the New York marathon Team GB Hockey player Tess Howard tells us how after scoring the winning goal at the last Commonwealth Games, and that after it and with her “face and body plastered all over the papers” she "felt ashamed of herself". Knowing that she shouldn't be feeling like that, she set about making a significant change to the kit female athletes are allowed to wear in competition in her sport and women’s sport in general Those players involved in the tournament will have practiced for many years to refine their technique. But at any time, they could be struck down by “Dartitus”. Think of the ‘yips’ in golf but for darts. It’s a condition that means the player is unable to release the dart at the end of their throwing action, and it can happen to anyone. We speak to one Players Championship Winner and World Championship finalist, a former Women's World number one and a coach conducting a 1000-hour experiment to try and crack what causes and how to resolve “Dartitus” Photo: The yard at San Quentin State Prison in San Quentin, California is occupied by inmates getting their daily exercise in the oldest prison in the state, opened in 1852 (Credit: Mark Boster/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

It's one of the sports stories of 2024. In November "Knight's Choice" squeezed home to win the Melbourne Cup by a nose. The 80-1 outsider was ridden by Irish jockey Robbie Dolan. Winning the so called "Race that stops a nation" made Robbie famous in Australia, or should that be even more famous! Because two years previous he was one of the finalists on the TV singing show The Voice! So, a little over a month since that famous victory, has Robbie had a chance to drink it all in?! When it comes to sport at Christmas, what comes to mind? Well there’s the traditional Boxing Day fixtures in the Premier League and the Test match in Melbourne. But what about darts? Well the World Championship begins on Sunday at the Alexandra Palace in London with the new world champion crowned early in the new year. But if you don’t know your double top from your oche, never fear! Sportshour is here. The perfect guest to guide us through is Russ Bray simply known as "The Voice" Using dating apps can be very hit and miss! Sometimes not everything is quite as it seems... but sometimes it can be the start of a relationship that saves the world! When Canadian heptathlete Leanna Carriere "swiped right" it started a journey that will take her and partner Timm Dobert all over the world! Combining her athletic ability and Timm's academic background the two of them have already completed the first leg of a round the world cycle that will see them replicate bird migration and raise awareness of climate change... and it all started with a simple profile picture! For many Zoe Morse, seemed to have it all. Professional footballer who had played in the NWSL for Chicago Fire and was now in the WSL in England with Brighton. Then seemingly from nowhere, at the age of 25 she quit the game! Now back in her native Michigan Zoe has embarked on a career in medicine and told us what it has been like to walk away from the game. Image: Leanna Carriere and Timm Döbert with their bikes during their 30 day cycling expedition across Canada. (Credit: Bill Ault)

2024 has been a monumental year for Australian Rhydian Cowley. He won bronze alongside team mate Jemima Montag at the Paris Olympics in the inaugural walking mixed team relay. He was also named the BBC Green Sport Award's World Athlete of the Year using his platform to spark debates about climate change and how it's affecting not only sport but the whole planet. Fuelled by homemade jam and some bird watching, Cowley reveals his unusual combination of ions. It's fair to say that Irish tennis player Conor Niland could be best described as a journeyman. He never reached the world's top 100 and never progressed beyond the first round of a grand slam. And in the world of professional tennis there are far more like Conor than there are Roger Federer or Serena Williams'. Connor's new book "Racket" tells the story of those players who travel the world in the hope of climbing the rankings, where the prize money barely covers their expenses. Photo: Rhydian Cowley of Team Australia competes during the Mixed Marathon Race Walk Relay at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 (Credit: David Ramos/Getty Images)

Hallucinations, crashes, and just 10 minutes sleep – Badlands ultra cycle race is not only a test of endurance but also the ultimate relationship test for the 2024 pairs winners. Danni Shrosbree and Bradley Shenton completed the gruelling 800km (497 miles) route, through the Andalusian mountains in Spain, in 53 hours and 30 minutes. The couple faced temperatures of up to 40C, bike damage, and they tell Sportshour’s Caroline Barker how they only stopped for two five-minute power naps. Earlier this week the Player of the Year awards for Rugby Union were announced South Africa's Pieter du Toit won the men's award, for the second time in his career, and the Women's award went to Ellie Kildunne. Ellie was top scorer as England won the Six Nations Grand slam earlier this year and at just 25 has been telling us about how her career on the pitch has developed, and also what she gets up to off the pitch! Here's a quiz question for you. Who is the youngest player to score in the top flight of English football? The record was achieved about 10 years before the formation of the Premier League by an Ipswich Town Player aged just 16 years and 57 days. If you said Jason Dozzell, you are correct! To say success came early and easy to Jason is an understatement, but as he reveals in his new book "Follow the Thunder" it came at a cost. Now in his fifties he's got a much better understanding of the effect of being a child star in a man's world had on him. Image: Danni Shrosbree and Bradley Shenton cycling on off-road mountainous terrain. (Credit: @benjam / @fred.j.photos / @precisionfandh)

We’re used to celebrating the achievements of para-athletes on the track, but endurance running is still in its infancy. South African born Jacky Hunt-Broersma is changing that. She is at the forefront of amputee ultramarathon and trail running. A cancer survivor, she loves pushing the limits of what is possible. She has already run 104 marathons in 104 days and is now attempting to run from Las Vegas to Los Angeles (venue of the next Paralympics). She tells us of the unique challenges she must face to run extraordinary distances and change perceptions of what para-athletes can do. We go behind the scenes of life in the Premier League with physio Derek Wright. Up until recently Derek served as the Newcastle United physio, a role he held for more than 30 years. Recently retired, he tells us what it’s really like in the dressing room on match day, how he aided more than just the players’ physical health and which manager always called him Dennis, despite the fact he was named Derek. How much do you earn? It’s an uncomfortable question to have to answer in public... but if we were all made to do it, it might quicken the pace at which fairer pay was achieved. We speak to former Italian international goalkeeper Arianna Criscione and Brentford FC director Preeti Shetty, the women behind the #SayThePay campaign who are advocating for salary transparency in the sports industry. NFL star Efe Obada on the secrets to success as an American football player Image: Ultramarathon and trail runner Jacky Hunt-Broersma running on rocky terrain. (Photo courtesy of Jacky Hunt-Broersma)

Toulouse’s six European titles make them the most successful club in European rugby, and if you were to say the French club were out of this world, then you would be right. The city considers itself the aerospace capital of Europe and it turns out one of the club’s secrets to success has been to mix the methods and practices of those training to go into space adapted to the sports field. Sportshour's Chris Bockman finds out more. Former jockey Karen Wiltshire has a powerful and unheard story to tell about being at the forefront of changing participation in sport. Before her no professional female jockey had ever ridden a winner in British Flat racing when she guided The Goldstone to victory in 1978. Her journey there had seen her manhandled physically and harangued mentally and is all detailed in her book "No Place for a Girl" Can table football last in an age of digital information? Derek Air has just written a booked called Land of the Giants: My Journey Through the World of Table Football. It's essentially a love letter to an old-fashioned favourite, a much-loved game, and one that simply refuses to die in this digital age. We hear from Danny Care, a world-class Rugby player who has represented England at every level. After multiple Rugby World Cups and Six Nations tournaments, he became just the sixth player to reach 100 Test caps for his country during England's win over Ireland in in March. Shortly after achieving this remarkable milestone, Danny announced his retirement from international rugby. Image: A blue poster promoting an event showcasing the relationship between space and sport at Cité de l'Espace in Toulouse, .

How do you channel the ion, determination and fortitude to achieve something knowing you've lost friends doing the same thing? Professional skier Cody Townsend has lost many friends on the mountains he’s skiing down as he attempts to climb and ski all the routes detailed in the book, “The Fifty Classic Ski Descents of North America”. They're some of the most dangerous slopes on the continent and he’s documented the 46 he’s completed so far in a video series – but although the videos have stopped, that doesn’t mean the challenge attempt is finished. Townsend tells Sportshour’s Caroline Barker about the risks, the rewards and the rules he sets himself when he skis... an experience he wouldn’t trade, even for Olympic gold. Photo: Cody Townsend skiing down a mountain with rockfaces on either side. (Credit: Summit Lunch Productions)

In 1989 Donald Trump put his name to a cycle race hoped would rival the Tour de . This is the story behind the Tour de Trump. We hear what it was like to share the podium with Trump from the winner of the first race Dag Otto Lauritzen. Go behind the scenes with race organiser Mike Plant and hear about the legacy the race left from Peter Nye author of Hearts of Lions: The History of American Bicycle Racing... and why the race no longer takes place. Presented by Caroline Barker Produced by Joel Hammer Photo: Donald Trump at news conference at the DuPont Plaza in Wilmington Delaware, promoting his "Tour de Trump" bicycle race to be held in May 1990. (CREDIT: Harry Hamburg/NY Daily News via Getty Images)

With the World Series underway we hear from one man hoping one day to grace baseballs top table. After a life changing boating accident that saw one of Parker Byrd's legs amputated, the college baseball player fought back to become what is believed to be first NCAA Division I baseball player to play with a prosthetic leg. Parker Byrd told his inspirational story to Sportshour's Caroline Barker (Photo: Parker prepares to face a pitch on his return to action. CREDIT East Carolina University)

As the Formula 1 Drivers’ Championship heats up as the drivers head to Austin for the United States Grand Prix, it will also be a significant weekend for F1 broadcaster Jennie Gow. She tells Sportshour’s Caroline Barker how she has had to learn to write and speak again after a stroke in December 2022 and shares her love for F1 ahead of the release of her new book ‘How to Read F1’. Ultra-endurance bike rider Lael Wilcox chats about her journey around the world after setting the new world record for the fastest woman to circumnavigate the globe by bike and also reveals how she missed a message from tennis legend Billie Jean King. Adriana Brownlee shares what it means to become the youngest ever female climber to summit the world’s tallest mountains at the age of 23 and why it all stems from a piece of primary school homework she did when she was eight. Zdeno Chara explains why he has no plans to slow down even after retiring from professional ice hockey. After 24 seasons in the NHL, he is now ready to take on one of his toughest challenges yet – the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. And – Miles Myerscough-Harris shares what it’s like photographing and filming the world’s biggest sporting events with vintage cameras dating back to the 1800s. Image: Jennie Gow during practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Monaco at Circuit de Monaco on May 24, 2024 in Monte-Carlo, Monaco.(Photo by Vince Mignott/MB Media/Getty Images)

Ed Moses won 122 consecutive races including two Olympic gold medals over a nearly 10-year span in the 400m hurdles, but how did he become unbeatable? Sportshour’s Caroline Barker speaks to the double Olympic champion about his dominance, his then-revolutionary 13 strides and how an introduction from Morgan Freeman has finally brought his life to the screen. For the first time in the 173-year history of the America’s Cup, there will be a standalone women’s event in 2024. Canada’s Isabella Bertold had swapped sails for pedals to become a professional cyclist, but she explains why she’s back on the water as captain of Concord Pacific Racing team and leading a campaign to champion women's sport. Former Australian international swimmer Kurt Herzog shares his life after elite sport and how he’s working in Indigenous communities to bring neglected public pools back to life. Plus, find out more about the sport of blind baseball with Great Britain’s Grant Mallabar. Image: American athlete Edwin Moses, wearing sunglasses, clears a hurdle during the men's 400m hurdles event of the 1988 Summer Olympics, at the Seoul Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, September 1988. Moses won bronze in the men's 400m hurdles at the Games. (Photo by Bongarts/Getty Images)

From sneaking out of her house to play football to becoming a trailblazer for others, Sportshour’s Caroline Barker speaks to Jackline Juma who has become the first female head coach in the Kenyan Premier League. The FC Talanta head coach has already made a winning start, and she's hoping her role will inspire more women and girls to follow their footballing dreams. British triathlete Kat Matthews reveals what it has taken to get back on the IRONMAN World Championship podium, two years after a near-fatal crash whilst training for the same event in 2022. Caitlin Clark’s Indiana Fever may have been knocked out of the WNBA play-offs, but the basketball star’s impact extends way beyond the court. Former Icelandic basketballer Helena Sverrisdóttir has proof of that after she hosted a watch party in Iceland. Plus, hear from Samson Ndayishimiye, President of the Rwanda Cycling Federation, as Africa gets ready to host the World Road Cycling Championships for the first time in 2025, and there’s all the flicks and tricks from the Subbuteo World Cup. Image: FC Talanta's Jackline Juma on the touchline coaching. (Image: FC Talanta/Football Kenya Federation/Kevin Teya)

When Jack Eyers decided to have his leg amputated at the age of 16 he was advised against it... but Jack was done with living in pain. What he didn't realise was that after his amputation a new world of opportunity would open up that has taken him from the Hollywood Hills to the cat walks of Milan and now to the Paralympic podium in Paris, where last month he won silver in the para canoe. Jack tells us about his remarkable story We preview the new WSL season in England with BBC Sports senior women's football reporter Emma Sanders including new managers and players on the pitch... and chat to Dani Gonçalves co founder of 'Fantasy WSL' about all the new managers and players of it. Plus Former USWNT goalkeeper Jillian Loyden on helping develop the next generation of keepers on and off the field though her Keepers Institute. Photo: Silver medallist Jack Eyers of Great Britain celebrates on the podium during the medal ceremony for the Men's Va'a Single 200m - VL3 Final on day eleven of the Paris 2024 Summer Paralympic Games (Credit: Elsa/Getty Images) Photo: Cody Townsend skiing down a mountain with rockfaces on either side. (Credit: Summit Lunch Productions)

the UltraTrail du Mont Blanc is a unique challenge of endurance racing through the mountains of on foot. It's made up of three races including the brutal 101 kilometre "Courmayeur-Champex-Chamonix" or the 'CCC'. Earlier this month, and fresh from returning from a serious knee injury, American Hayden Hawkes crossed the finish line to win. It was exactly seven years since he first tasted victory in the race, and he hasn't looked back since. Photo: Hayden Hawkes of the United States celebrates as he wins the 50k race during the UTMB World Series Canyons Endurance Runs 2023(Credit: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images for Canyons UTMB)