Menstruation should not prevent girls from playing football.
The Swedish Football Association is now investing heavily in breaking taboos and training leaders and players.
Talking about menstruation should be as natural as talking about wall games, says Per Widén, Head of Education and Development at SvFF.
Small but important steps have been taken in individual associations. Efforts were made in the national team. But take now Swedish Football Association menstruation seriously.
The initiative, being implemented with partner Svenska spel, will be presented later on Friday, but Sportbladet can already talk about the initiative.
Behind the investment there is a survey of how the menstrual cycle affects football players in the country. The study included (during June 8-21, 2021) 462 players and 200 leaders.
The answers showed that every fifth player had chosen to give up a training or game in the past six months, and every other player replied that they thought the period question was hard to talk about.
We want to remove the taboo that still exists around menstruation and ensure that all girls and women can play football equally, says Per Widén of SvFF.
During the fall semester, five leading associations, from different parts of Sweden and from broad to elite, will work closely with the SvFF, which will also appoint a research coordinator.
My role is to follow all the research that exists in this field, sort it out and find out how other countries and clubs are doing today. With that as insight, I’m producing educational materials for our pilot associations that we’ll be starting with after the summer, says research coordinator Kristen Holm Gersdottir.
It could be a sign of a lack of energy
The plan is to apply the knowledge in the training materials and ultimately the players.
We want to collect relevant research that exists and in the long run to our provinces and associations. I’m convinced this will make more people talk more naturally about PMS in soccer, points out Per Wieden.
The hope is also to increase knowledge about exercise and risk of injury based on your menstrual cycle. Research coordinator Kristen Holm Giersdottir sees more benefits from increasing knowledge on a neglected topic.
What we do know, however, is that irregular or missed periods is an indication that something is wrong and performance is affected. But by monitoring the bike, coaches can support the girls and help them get back on track. She points out that menstrual irregularities are usually related to a lack of energy, which in turn affects performance.
Per Widén has a goal image that all Swedish federations have menstruated in a few years and that more girls will continue to play football as knowledge of the importance of menstruation increases.
Is lack of knowledge of menstruation the reason many young girls stop playing football?
We have no basis to say that young girls drop out of school because of menstrual problems, but that could be a contributing factor, says Per Widén.