By Tanay Apte,
AIFF Media Team

NEW DELHI: The second part of the morning session on Day 2 of the AIFF International Virtual Coaching Conference on Saturday, December 4, 2021 saw Dawn Scott take centre-stage. The Inter Miami Director of Performance spoke on the training demands of modern women footballers.

Dr. Scott began by introducing the English FA’s Player Development Model and cited the lack of female-specific considerations for training methods.

“The physiological differences between male and female players – hormonal, skeletal and biomechanical – need to be taken into account for an adapted player development model for female football players,” she explained.

Having worked closely with the United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) in the last decade and helping them win two FIFA World Cup titles and an Olympic gold medal, Dr. Scott brought forward an interesting example to throw light on the lack of literature on the relation between women’s health and football.

“After (USWNT striker) Alex Morgan had recently become a mother, she had to do her own research on the internet about when it would be safe to resume training again,” mused Dr. Scott.

Most of her session focused on the technical aspects of training, including physical match demands, recovery and the general levels of physical improvement in the women’s game due to better training methods.

“If you expose players to physical match demands during training sessions, research has shown that they are less susceptible to injury,” said Dr. Scott. “Over the last five years or so, average physical stats like speed threshold and distance covered have increased.”

“Train women as women, don’t be scared to train them fearing the intensity,” she added.

Towards the end, Dr. Scott weighed in on the subject of menstruation and its effects on training and how all stakeholders of the game can come together to educate each other on the topic.“We need to break the taboo on menstruation by educating and spreading awareness among the coaches, parents and staff,” she said. “During the menstruation cycle, the players’ wellness and core temperature should be monitored and individual symptoms need to be tracked.”