The Mary Erskine School has partnered with The Well HQ, to help raise awareness of the impact of puberty on young women playing sport.
Research shows that 64% of girls will have quit sport by the time they finish puberty, and 1 in 2 girls are quitting sport due to periods*.
Sport in Her Shoes, run by The Well HQ, is helping to break down the barriers young women face playing sport after they hit puberty. The Mary Erskine School has brought schools and students from across Edinburgh together to raise awareness of the impact puberty can have on the female body and the steps that we can take to stop young women turning away from Sport. Just some of the tips from The Well HQ include:
- When you are choosing a sports bra, don’t focus too much on size, because they can vary between brands, just focus on how it fits
- Make sure you are exercising regularly. Research shows that premenstrual symptoms and period pain is reduced when you take regular exercise
- If you are a teacher and you are nervous about talking about when a student might need help getting a bra that is supportive enough, imagine that you are talking to a class about the importance of a mouthguard in hockey. A sports bra is an essential piece of your kit
- Track your menstrual cycle - start to record when your period comes, what you feel like on different days of your cycle, record all the emotions and see if you can start to spot trends. This really helps girls to understand their bodies
- Start to use the right language for girls bodies and what's happening to us, use the word period, menopause, bloating, sports bra, pelvic floor. We too often use euphemisms to describe what is happening to us and we need to start being comfortable using the right language
Kirsty Nicholson, Head of The Mary Erskine School, said:
“Too many young women are turning away from Sport when they hit puberty and it’s time to have an honest conversation about how we help young women to stay active and continue doing the sports they love. Sports in Her Shoes is such an important initiative, and we were so pleased to see teachers, sports specialists and pupils from schools across Edinburgh coming together to break down the taboos on this issue.
Baz Moffat, former Team GB rower and co-founder of The Well HQ, said:
“The status quo for women in sport needs to change, and to see that change come to life we need progressive, forward-thinking schools like Mary Erskine to set the tone early in a girl’s life. We’re delighted to be working with them.
There is so much to be gained by opening up dialogue and by embedding better practices that speak to the specifics and the positives of the female body. By rewiring training and cultural norms, we not only improve confidence and performance in the individual, we evolve the system in ways that’ll resonate for decades to come.”
