WHISPA RESOURCES
- Club Assistance
- Coach Development
- BayTrust CoachForce
- Volunteering in the Bay
- Women and Girls
- Good Sports
- Spaces and Places Strategy
- Disability Sport
- Forsyth Barr BOP Sports Awards
- Advocacy for sector
About these resources:
WHISPA is Healthy Women In Sport: A Performance Advantage - a High Performance Sport NZ project that aims to ensure the best clinical advice is available to athletes and coaches to facilitate optimal athletic performance in elite female athletes.
ACL Injury in Female Athletes
The Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) is one of the main ligaments in the knee, crossing between the femur (thigh bone) and tibia (shin bone)
helping to stabilise the knee.
It can become injured in a range of sports and activities involving sudden slowing down or stopping; a change of direction or pivoting with the foot planted on the ground; an awkward landing; or a direct blow to the knee.
So what happens if you suffer an ACL rupture? Why is it a particular issue for female athletes? And how do you prevent suffering a rupture? All of these questions are answered in the resource below:
Info Sheet: ACL Injury in Female Athletes
Periods for Performance
To many women, a period can be viewed as a hindrance - but despite any obstacles they may cause some, they are important.
Having a regular period is a visible sign of a female’s hormonal health, and usually signifies a good energy balance. Having regular periods
is a good guide to the readiness for training and performance.
So what happens when periods are missed? What should you do if your periods are not regular? And what about painful periods? How can I minimise the pain? The resources below have the answers.
Info Sheet: Periods for Performance
Info Sheet: Managing the painful period
Info Sheet: The Menstrual Cycle
Low Energy Availability
Yes, it's a thing! In many athletes, Low Energy Availability, or LEA, is the result of accidentally not meeting the energy needs of their sport, exercise activity or daily life.
This may happen due to a lack of knowledge or understanding of nutrition, or even being influenced by others' eating habits, social factors, dietary trends or social media.
What impacts can LEA have on me? What can cause accidental LEA? What are the common signs of LEA and how do I prevent it? More information is available at the linked resource below.
Info Sheet: Low Energy Availability
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S)
RED-S is a state of athlete health where the functioning of multiple body systems and functions are impaired. It is caused by a mismatch between energy intake from diet and the energy used in exercise.
Who is at risk of RED-s? What are the performance consequences? And how can I prevent it? The details are in the resource below.
Info Sheet: Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S)
Sport-Related Concussion in Female Athletes
The brain is arguably the most important organ in the human body and a concussion is a mild traumatic brain injury which impacts the function of the brain.
It's caused by either a blow to the head or blow to the body that transmits forces to the brain - and evidence suggests female athletes experience concussion differently to male athletes.
Why is that? How do you recognise concussion? Can you manage a female athlete's concussion? What happens to the brain when it is concussed? And is it preventable? These are all important questions answered in the below resource.
Info Sheet: Sport-related Concussion in Female Athletes
