This month, athlete & academic Issy Coombes will run workshops focusing on how understanding menstruation can enhance performance – on and off the pitch.
Bloomsbury Football is committed to tackling the barriers that prevent girls from getting on the pitch & experiencing the power of football.
According to a 2022 report by Women in Sport, more than 1 million girls who previously described themselves as ‘sporty’ no longer engage in sports when they leave primary school. Of the 4,000 girls surveyed, nearly 78% said they avoided getting involved with any sports when on their period.
At Bloomsbury Football, we believe that girls need education about menstruation in order to feel confident enough to get on the pitch every week. They also need to know that they will always have access to period products.
Last year, we launched our Period Power project. This ensures that every girl and coach of a Girls team at Bloomsbury Football will be given a period kit bag with period products.
To kick off this project, Olympian athlete Hannah Miley MBE ran a series of workshops for our coaches and community. Hannah taught us how periods can be a superpower on & off the pitch – if we understand how to work with hormonal fluctuations throughout the month. By understanding the menstrual cycle, players can use their periods as a way to track their health and this can maximise their overall health & performance.
This is something athlete and educator Issy Coombes is passionate about.
Issy has been involved in high performance football for over a decade as both a player and practitioner. She has played in three age group World Cups and was a member of the Football Ferns before she turned her focus to Sports Science.
In this space, Issy has worked with the New Zealand U17 Women’s National Team and is now supporting the New Zealand U20 Women’s National Team in preparation for their World Cup in 2024.
Issy is also the Lead Female Sport Scientist at the Wellington Phoenix Academy whilst completing her PhD which is looking at “menstrual cycle characteristics in elite and academy female footballers in New Zealand”.
Issy’s background as a national team player and experiences as both a practitioner and an academic have given her a unique perspective on what it takes to succeed in elite football as a female athlete. Issy is focused on understanding the menstrual cycle and female physiology. She directs her work towards empowering female athletes to optimise their health and wellbeing for performance.
We look forward to welcoming Issy to Bloomsbury Football this December as she delivers a staff training session and a Sunday Special to our Girls Academy players!
