Thane City Football Club conducted a webinar about menstrual cycles, and how it affects athlete performance, alongside a panel discussion about women’s health in sports.
JUNE 28, 2020, THANE: Thane City FC, recently conducted a webinar for coaches, athletes, and parents, live on its YouTube channel. The panel discussing the same was led by moderator Prashant J Singh, Founder of Thane City FC and consisted of Dr. Sanjana Sainani, Gynaecologist, Alex Ambrose, National Team Coach, and Durva Vahia, Sports Scientist.
The webinar initially covered the medical angle of the Menstrual cycle and the hormonal changes, before moving to a panel discussion where modern practices and sensitisation of the topic was discussed.
“People, mostly men, shy away from talking about such issues. This is what we aim to change gradually. Due to the lack of female coaches in the country, most of the girls are trained by men, who rely on personal research when it comes to getting more information about menstrual cycles, as there is no formal education around this topic.” Prashant J Singh, President of Thane City FC.
Lora Prabhu, Director of CEQUIN, who has been working in projects to sensitize not only women but also men and young boys on Menstruation, said during the panel discussion, “It is extremely important for all the genders to talk about Menstruation. There are many behaviours that both men and women are socialised into, that have to be unlearned to move forward.”
Dr. Sanjana Sainani, a Gynaecologist, said during the webinar, “People think that menstrual unawareness and misconception only exist in villages and rural India, but it is also there in the urban educated class. More awareness is required around this topic for both men and women.”
Male coaches are common in Elite women’s football across the globe as the FIFA Women’s World Cup has always had more than 60% male coaches. Alex Ambrose, who is currently the Assistant Coach of the India Under-17 Women’s Team, said about the discussion, “We have created a healthy positive environment within our national team and the girls in the current batch are really comfortable talking about it to the medical and technical team. We also maintain a WELLNESS CHART, to track the players’ cycle.”
Another development in the past decade has seen a lot of progress in the Sports Science across all sports, as it gives some critical data and helps study performance parameters.
Durva Vahia, Sports Scientist at Reliance Foundation Young Champs, said, “There are a lot of hormonal changes going on throughout the cycle. We gather data around behavioral patterns and symptoms of players. A lot of external factors are then easier to manage like the players’ diet, sleep cycle, rest, injuries, etc.”
Thane City FC plans to start educational sessions and seminars, across the Menstrual Cycle and its relation to athlete’s performance and well-being.
You can watch the webinar here.
