Greater 'knowledge and awareness' needed about periods for women in sport - The Period Panel
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ByEurosport
Updated 28/05/2023 at 08:04 GMT
Speaking on 'The Period Panel' with Eurosport's Orla Chennaoui, England footballer Jodie Taylor and Team GB track and field athlete Jazmin Sawyers, Dr Emma Ross, the former Head of Physiology at the English Institute of Sport, believes greater research and education into the impact periods have on women in sport is required if athletes are to be able to compete at their full potential.
'No probably not' - Taylor admits she wouldn't tell coach she couldn't train because of period
Dr Emma Ross has called for greater funding and education to assess the impact periods have on women in sport.
Ross - the former Head of Physiology at the English Institute of Sport, who specialises in improving sport for women and girls - says more money needs to go into research and also the education of coaches to create "great knowledge and awareness" around the subject.
"Research is costly," she said in conversation on 'The Period Panel' with Eurosport's Orla Chennaoui, England international footballer Jodie Taylor and Team GB track and field athlete Jazmin Sawyers, with the full discussion to be aired on Sunday.
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WBD Sports Period Panel discussion full episode
"When you do it on women, you have to take into account the menstrual cycle. And that changes from week to week. In the male body, you know, they still have a hormonal rhythm, everyone has hormones, everyone's hormonal, but in men, it's a 24-hour rhythm rather than a monthly rhythm. And that does mean that, gosh, we're going to have to either get all of these women at the same time of their cycle and test them on whatever research question we have.
"Or we're going to have to test them at four times across the cycle to understand different phases. And as you say, that becomes time consuming and costly. But that is not an excuse. You know, we have in this country a brilliant reputation for research, you know, we take on cancer, and we don't go 'oh, it's a bit complicated and costly, we won't go there'. We just go 'wow, it's complicated. It's costly. Let's go after it'.
"I think women's bodies have been excluded. And now's the time for it to be prioritised to be funded appropriately. But the important thing is also the kind of 'knowing-doing' gap.
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'No probably not' - Taylor admits she wouldn't tell coach she couldn't train because of period
"So we have enough information to be doing better. We do need to wait for really good quality research to keep coming. And there are some brilliant studies going on across this country.
"But also we need to make the most of what we have now. And we don't make the most of knowing about how to reduce the risk of ACL injury in females. We don't utilise the information we do have about the menstrual cycle and get it into the hands of athletes so that they can use it. And that comes down to coach education, that comes down to how much does that coach who's supporting these guys day in and day out know about women's bodies.
"And if they are a guy who hasn't had a lived experience, and if they're a guy who has previously worked in men's sport, who has gone through it, perhaps they've done a degree in sports science and they've done a qualification in coaching, they won't have been taught about women's bodies at any point of that journey. It's actually been overlooked and now it continues to be overlooked.
"We do have to change that but we have to get in at a coach education level. You know, we have to get in at a federation level. So sports say 'oh yeah, everyone in this sport, everyone in the women's game, everyone in women's sport needs to know more and you see better educated physios, the doctors, the sports scientists, the coaches, the athletes'.
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'People aren't taking that much notice' - Sawyers explains why there needs to be more period info
"Let's raise the bar here on knowledge and awareness, so that when we do get more research, we can use it, because one of the biggest barriers to having these great conversations about your experience of the menstrual cycle, is your confidence as an athlete in the person's ability to receive that and not be mortified, embarrassed to judge."
Arsenal striker Taylor says she has found it difficult to pre-judge the impact periods would have on her ability to play at her best.
"My period over the years has really affected me without really knowing. And it wasn't until gaining more knowledge and understanding of periods and different cycles, did I realise how much it was impacting me. So mine was less about symptoms, whilst on my period, it was the lead-up into it, which really affected how hard I could train and my recovery and inflammation in my body.
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'Traditionally it hasn't come up!' - Robson on male dominated media not asking about periods
"A number of years ago, I had a really bad Achilles injury and every certain time of the month, my Achilles really got agitated and irritated and kicked off and I didn't know what it was until getting more understanding about my period. And it happened the week before my period.
"I think we all look at symptoms as well like leading into game day. But the first day of my period, I get really bad cramps, and I'm bloated, which affects how much I eat because I lose my appetite, I'm not hungry.
"So that obviously has a knock-on effect on my nutrition and recovery. But to say how brave it is for you to come out and speak about it. Because I don't think I know anyone… I've got had teammates who really are debilitated by their period but will never ever pull themselves out or say anything about it. They just suffer in silence."
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BOREHAMWOOD, ENGLAND - MAY 05: Jodie Taylor of Arsenal looks on during the FA Women's Super League match between Arsenal and Leicester City at Meadow Park on May 05, 2023 in Borehamwood, England. (Photo by Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
Image credit: Getty Images
Taylor believes periods are still a taboo subject in football.
She said: "I think it's more spoken about, but it's still taboo. And I think it's something that we all need to move beyond and hopefully speaking about it - and I've had other teammates who've come out in the media and spoken about it - will help. But I think within a team environment, people are a bit more comfortable talking to medical and sports scientists about it. But I don't think it's at the level where people openly can say 'I can't play today'."
Sawyers agrees that greater research is needed for athletes to be able to better manage their performance.
"For me, what seems to be the issue is research can't catch up quick enough to how much we seem to want to talk about it," she said.
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"Or at least in my world where I'm kind of talking about it a lot, is that there is some research but it seems to be sort of conflicting and there’s no clear answer.
"If I had been tracking my cycle, and been aware of how I feel every week compared to the previous month, since I was a teenager, then I probably would be able to say 'hey, I know that I'm going to feel worse in the week for my period, I know that my back's gonna hurt, I know that my tendons are going to be more susceptible to injury, because that's how I've personally experienced it'.
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Jazmin Sawyers of Great Britain celebrates after winning the Women's Long Jump Final during Day 3 of the European Athletics Indoor Championships at the Atakoy Arena on March 05, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey.
Image credit: Getty Images
"I'd be able to take that forward in my professional career. But unless there's an awareness at that lower level, people aren't taking that much notice."
Chennaoui added: "In your book, Emma, you reference the fact that only 6% of research in sport science is conducted exclusively on women and that of that 6%, only 8% is judged to be a good enough quality to be reliable.
"I'm rubbish at maths, but 8% of 6% is infinitesimal."
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