The Irish mental performance coach at the coalface of a NWSL club's upturn

There's no doubt that this has been one of the biggest weeks in the career of David McHugh.

The Athlone native is the mental performance coach at National Women's Soccer League side Washington Spirit and this weekend the club are going in search of the holy grail of US women's domestic soccer: The NWSL Championship.

Standing in their way in tonight's decider (the Irish time kick-off falls on Sunday at 1am) will be the Orlando Pride.

This month's play-off run has already been incredibly tense, which makes McHugh's specific remit in the area of mental performance all the more crucial.

A qualified sports psychologist and UEFA-licensed soccer coach who has worked at various age grades in both the men's and women's game in Ireland, McHugh has been involved with Washington Spirit since May 2023 - initially as a consultant and then from this year as part of their full-time performance staff.

In a nutshell, he characterises his role as being to mental performance what strength and conditioning coaching is to players' physical preparation.

"Something that I've introduced here is 'mind gyms' because mental performance is very big in the United States," McHugh told RTÉ Sport as the weekend's NWSL decider looms larger.

"They already do strength and conditioning, so using that language can help them buy into mental performance and if I'm saying it's a 'mind gym', you're going to the gym for your body, well we've got mind gyms here for your mind to be able to look after that side."

Watch the full in-depth interview with Washington Spirit mental performance coach David McHugh above

Part of McHugh's role involves one-on-one sessions, helping players and staff members address mental health and stress-related issues - the aim being to free