Essex County FA recently worked in partnership with Irise to provide an educational webinar to clubs, teams and coaches. It was designed to support those working with female participants in understanding the effects that the menstrual cycle can have and the barriers that it can pose on participation in sport. The webinar has been very well received by club staff, managers, coaches, and parents from across the county.

During her presentation, Dr Sarah Zipp discussed the below topics:

• Why menstruation matters
• Tacking Taboos & Myth Busting
• The Complete Menstrual Cycle
• Symptoms and Challenges
• Products and Resources
• Q&A and discussion

If you missed the webinar and would like to catch up watch it, click here. You can also access lots of useful resources on menstruation through our website by clicking here.

We’ve received lots of positive feedback. Donna, who attended the webinar, is a current football player at Toby Women’s FC and is a Development Coach at Hatfield Peverel FC. Amongst a few other football roles too! She shares her experiences as a player and coach and what she had taken away from the webinar.
 
“I have played football myself since I was 7 years old and still going at 39. I have been through the challenges as a player and as a coach in relation to menstrual cycles. I notice when I’m at certain stages of my cycle my performance, changes and it was brilliant to understand when to get the best out of my body and when to listen to my body .”

“I found the webinar brilliant, super informative and it gave me insight into how best introduce the conversation of periods with my younger girls and their parents. We will be introducing period kits as part of our first aid kits and making sure when travelling away our players have information about toilets. I’m creating a poster for our youth managers and coaches to have available for our girls with information about periods and resources to help. It’s important we understand how to help our players normalise periods, so they continue to participate and enjoy sports.”

“I would highly recommend the webinar to coaches, mangers, players and parents.”

Ellie Finneran, Football Development Officer, Essex FA discussed the recent webinar.

“This is a project I have been working on for a while now, and the webinar was a great success! Education on the menstrual cycle needs to be accessible for club staff, coaches, parents, and players. Menstruation is a huge barrier for participation, and I hope this webinar has helped people learn how we can support players and create inclusive environments, so players feel comfortable participating.”

We would love to hear how your club are supporting players through their periods! Tweet @EssexFA and use the hashtags #ECFAperiodfriendly #SayPeriod #MenstrationMatters - and update us on what your club/team are doing to help support your players!