Leon Rudolph van Niekerk completed his BA, Hons BA in Criminology and Psychology and ThB in Theology at the North-West University (NWU) and a MA in Counselling Psychology and PhD in Psychology at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). In 2007, he completed his European Masters in Sport and Exercise Psychology at the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium. He is a registered Counselling Psychologist and specializes in Sport Psychology. van Niekerk has been the sport psychologist for numerous national and International athletes in sports such as golf, squash, football, rugby, Olympic- and Paralympic athletes, swimmers, cricket players and teams such as our national life-saving teams, national acro-tumbling team, SA Proteas netball team, Bafana-Bafana, Lions u/18 team, and sports teams of numerous schools, universities and clubs . He has recently been appointed as the Sport Psychologist for our National Deaf Rugby Team, who played two tests against Wales as well as the SA Under 17 Football team competing in the Youth World Cup in Chile. He taught Psychology and Sport Psychology to graduate and post-graduate students for 15 years UJ and since 2015 at the University of Fort Hare (UFH). He served as the Head of the Department of Human Movement Science since 2016 and currently acting as the Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the UFH. He has published numerous peer reviewed articles in national and international journals and wrote various chapters in academic books. His current research interest is in the psychological well-being of athletes; including topics such as: sexual abuse in sport; the development of mental toughness; the development of sport identity and life roles; burnout, stress and anxiety among athletes; the effectiveness of mindfulness during competition; mental health in sport and; the psychological health benefits of exercise.
