“Imagine the athlete I could have been if I’d known when I was much younger,” she says. “I’m highly invested in this because I’ve been through it all.”Įbrahim admits there was a lot she didn’t know about her body until she’d had her daughter. She’s organised a workshop around women’s health through the University of Otago. “It alerted me these girls needed help and education, and that starts from being aware and then upskilling ourselves as management,” she says. You can’t assume that our athletes know everything about their bodies - there’s no harm in relearning or refreshing as well.”Įbrahim, who played rugby for Canterbury before her daughter’s birth, was the culture and leadership manager for the Otago Spirit women’s rugby side in the Farah Palmer Cup this season and saw “recurring patterns” in some players’ health. “With my teacher’s hat on, we educate our girls early on in schools around puberty, but then the conversation goes on hold. And that can be trouble now, or later in life when we want to start families. “Yet our health is the driver of our bodies - and if we’re not even touching on what’s happening with our bodies, we’re running into trouble. “We talk about strength and conditioning as being a priority and we put so much time and emphasis on skill and tactical development,” she says. Photo / Getty ImagesĮbrahim, who had daughter Sophia three years ago, says it’s a serious oversight that female health and wellbeing hasn’t been treated as a priority in sport – from grassroots through to high-performance level. Kate Ebrahim wants to be a game changer on and off the cricket pitch. But I can see sports are now trying to normalise it.”Įbrahim’s personal philosophy is in sync with The Flow On Effect – a new initiative by Sport New Zealand to “kick-start the conversation” around female health, menstruation and physical activity, especially in communities. It’s not normalised yet - especially with the younger age group, which is alarming. “Even in the high-performance environments I’m currently in, it’s still a very shallow area. I guess that happens over time through changing the language we use, changing the conversations we have and increasing awareness,” says Ebrahim, last year’s Otago Sparks cricketer of the year. “We’re all uncomfortable talking about it but we need to start getting comfortable about it. Removing the stigma around menstruation, normalising discussions around periods and giving coaches the tools to better understand the physical development of young women. Ebrahim is talking about female athlete health – and the need to talk more about it.
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