Sophie Earley is a first year BSc Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience student, who moved to England from Northern Ireland to further her table tennis career. With playing internationally at such a young age, ranking 12th in the world in junior age groups and then playing in the Commonwealth games, we spoke to Sophie about her next steps as she balances studies alongside her sport as a sports scholar at the University of Nottingham.
Sophie will be competing against the very best university players in the UK at the University of Nottingham across the weekend of the 29th and 30th November at the 2025 BUCS Individual Table Tennis Championships, aiming to win her first silverware in BUCS (British Universities and Colleges Sport) competition.
Appreciate the chance to meet with you Sophie - can you give me an introduction about yourself and tell me a bit about your sport?
Of course! I started playing table tennis when I was six years old and started taking the sport a bit more seriously when I got to around 11 or 12. I was travelling more and playing international competitions like the Commonwealths when I was 15 and 16, and managed to get to the last 16 of that competition. Since then I've been medalling at European competitions, both junior and senior in both doubles and singles, so it's been going well. Fast forward to now and I'm here at the University of Nottingham!
How did you find playing at a high level internationally at a young age?
I think I probably did take it for granted at the time because I feel you only really appreciate something until it's gone. I don't regret how things have turned out because I think it's made me better off as a person and for my well-being. I don't want to be negative but when I was young, I felt a lot of my self-worth was based on solely how I did. I would travel a whole day to a competition, be there for a week and not compete how I wanted to so I would then overthink it. It's different now because I've got other things such as academics which help remind me that's not only about sport. I still love competing, but I think I just have a better balance now.
How do you find living here rather in Belfast?
Well, me and my family actually moved here a few years ago. For one, the table tennis setup was here, so it made sense for me as I was already travelling backwards and forwards when we lived in Northern Ireland. My Mum then also wanted to go to university so she's doing a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology, which is really cool and provides better opportunities for her. I also wanted to go to university, so it kind of worked out for everyone! I do love it here, but it's like people are expecting me to say I really want to go home - the only thing I miss is just one pizza place! It was unreal.
What is it about your sport that you enjoy?
Basically, I just saw my brother's player in school and I wanted to do whatever they were doing! It doesn't sound normal, but I saw other, better players playing and heard the cracking sound the ball makes I was like 'oh - that’s quite cool!'. My brothers were playing first, and I was pretty much copying what they were doing.
Why did you choose Nottingham?
Well, partly because we only live about 20 minutes away, so obviously that's close so I can see my family. As mentioned I was also really familiar with the table tennis set-up over here because I've been training here for the past four years or so and I've loved it. I'd also heard it was a good university academically, and so it made it a really logical choice for me.
What are you studying and why did you choose that course?
I'm doing BSc Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience, and that's partly because of my Mum. As mentioned she's also studying as a trainee Clinical Psychologist. She was an Assistant Psychologist before that, and I just heard a lot of her stories from work and it sounded really cool. I've also done a lot of coaching, especially with older people, and older people are so sweet, so I just kind of wanted to expand my skills that could transfer to that.
How do you find Nottingham and balancing studies with your sport so far?
Obviously, it's a really nice campus, so walking around to and from lectures is quite enjoyable. Nottingham is also a well-renowned University so I've enjoyed being a part of something so serious! But I'm not going lie, I do find it quite hard sometimes because I think I still need to find a routine that suits me best. It can feel overwhelming at times, but I am feeling optimistic and enjoying my time here so far.
What are your aims this year?
For university, I would say just to build good habits. Obviously, I know first year is easier than the second and third so that’s my main goal to build good habits for the next two years. For table tennis, I have nationals next year, so I'm really aiming to win that as I got to the semi-finals last year.
I feel like people will probably describe me as a bit wild and unorthodox, but that's probably because I focus more on having fun, rather than taking it way too seriously because I did play full time for three years. At one point I got to the point where it just felt so repetitive and monotonous and I found it quite boring in a way. However, I got injured last year - I had a hip impingement - so I was out for around five or six months and that made me realise I had no life because I wasn’t going to school or doing anything academically. I left school after my GCSEs because I thought full-time table tennis was what I want to do, but then after my injury I thought - I need to get my head screwed on because this could not be a long-term thing.
What about for the next few years?
It's a bit difficult for me because I changed nationality to England three years ago, based on moving and it was better setup that I really enjoyed. However, I've got a waiting period for five years, so I'm only eligible to play in the Europeans and Worlds in 2027. So, for now, it's just about improving my level and trying to take advantage of how many sessions there are here.
How do you find being a scholar?
Yeah, it's been good because I knew a lot of the staff before - such as my coaches - so I felt grateful I wasn't going into it without knowing anyone. In that way they’ve been really supportive, and I felt that before I'd even got here. I'm not reliant on support but equally I'm not afraid to have a chat with them and I know they're there to help me.
Was university always something you wanted to do?
I know that I've always wanted to go to university, but I feel like I kind of verged away from that at a point. I think when you get older in any sport, I feel like there's an expectation on you to just focus on that and there was definitely that expectation on me. I feel as though I fell victim to doing what everyone else was doing and I was afraid of people judging me thinking I wasn't as serious. In my opinion, I play better when I'm in a better frame of mind. My best competitions have been when I've been so relaxed, because I've had other things going on - and then obviously I got injured. I wasn't feeling great about that as I couldn't play, and I didn't have anything else to do at that point. In a way, I'm glad I got injured because it made me realise that I needed other things to focus on outside of table tennis.
Do you have any aims after university?
I want to go into Neuropsychology and it's quite a long road, so I'll need to do a masters and then some work experience, followed by similar to what my Mum is doing. So it'll probably be a while before I get to really deciding what I want to do after my studies but it's all just about developing myself, and learning how to balance everything I want to achieve, because I think they go hand in hand with each other.
Do you have any advice for people wanting to come to Nottingham?
I would say if you were considering, I'd definitely go to the Open Days and definitely come up to Nottingham and have a look, and also speak to people if you can. It does feel like a good community, and I would feel comfortable socialising with anyone else from other sports and from around the university, which at the end of the day is a really good place to be.
A big thank you to Sophie for her time ahead of the 2025 BUCS Individuals Table Tennis Championships and we look forward to supporting her achieve her sporting and academic goals during her time here at the University of Nottingham, and beyond.
You can find out more about the University of Nottingham Table Tennis programme here; Performance Table Tennis
You can find out more about the sports scholarship programme at the University of Nottingham here; Sports Scholarships at the University of Nottingham.