Game On: Overcoming Period Stigma in High School Sports

Choosing to play sports in high school can be one of the best things you ever do for yourself.  

While it might not always be the easiest experience (I still shudder just thinking about when my HS basketball coach would yell “TO THE BASELINE!”) it’s likely to be a fulfilling one.

Improving your health and fitness? Check!

Learning important life lessons? Check! 

Teammates disguised as best friends? Double Check!

But when we learned that period stigma is keeping teens out of sports, we commissioned a study to learn more. Powered by CAN Fund #150Women—a community committed to supporting female athletes—the research yielded some pretty interesting results. 

What we found? Truly shocking!

From uncomfortable conversations between coaches and players, to an intense fear of leaks, and navigating high level competitions all cycle long (even while bleeding!), it's clear that periods in sports are something we absolutely need to be talking about. 

The Sport Your Period movement was created to turn period stigma in sports on its head by encouraging world-class athletes to take to the spotlight to talk about their periods. 

Together, alongside two-time World Cup champion, former Olympic gold medalist, and Queer icon Megan Rapinoe (no big deal), we’re rewriting the narrative around periods in sports—and tackling the taboo head on. 

Periods can be hard enough. Cramps, fatigue, nausea, bloating (if yk yk)! What we really don’t need is for an added layer of fear and stigma to keep us from playing the sports we love. 

Take it from someone who got her first period ever on the same day as her biggest basketball tryout ever (seriously!). 

Tackling the Taboo 

Kt models wearing Leakproof Boyshort period underwear display: full

Did you know 64% of athletes feel uncomfortable talking about their periods with their coaches?

If you’ve ever felt uncomfortable bringing up your period to your coach, dance instructor, or team leader, you’re far from alone. 

But do know, coaches, trainers, and team leaders have a responsibility to talk to their athletes about every aspect of their health—including periods! Especially coaches who are working with teens who may be getting their periods for the very first time.

Anyone involved in training, coaching, advising, or supporting athletes with periods need to take the lead and strive to create environments where athletes feel comfortable discussing their periods without shame. That’s just step one. 

Step two is tackling the stigma by creating change—whether through education, implementing supportive policies, or just being open and understanding. Coaches, team leaders, and organizations could even go as far as providing access to period products that are actually effective at preventing leaks

If you’re reading this and your coach is a little behind the times and not taking the lead, try speaking up for yourself and your teammates! Initiate the conversation about your period and ask for help when you need it. 

It’s not exactly fair to put that responsibility on you, but change has to start somewhere and with someone. Maybe, that someone can be you! 

Last year, pro triathlete runner Emma Pallant-Browne posted a photo on social media of herself running with a visible period stain. When questioned about why she would choose to share this, she wrote: “it’s definitely something I’m not shy to talk about because it’s the reality of females in sport.”

She took the first step in a major way and helped to start an incredible and much-needed conversation around normalizing menstrual health in sports. We love her!

Education Era

Kt model wearing Leakproof Boyshort period underwear display: full

Turns out, a whopping 99% of athletes have competed on their period at an international competition.

You’d think this is so common there would be more education around competing and playing during your period, right? Unfortunately, that’s not the case. 

In reality, 1 in 2 teens will skip sports or drop out all together because of their period. That’s 1 in 2 too many, if you ask us. 

If you’re a teen who’s unsure about how to manage your period, especially when it comes to sports, it’s not your fault. 

Education around periods often falls short, failing to go into depth about menstrual health and hormonal cycles (yes, you have a full hormonal cycle, of which your period is just one phase!). 

Luckily, in recent years there has been a boom in period education thanks to innovative companies, content creators, not-for-profit organizations, community groups, and more all around the world working to fill some of these gaps.

One of those gaps has been filled by scientific insights into menstrual cycles and actual athletic performance!

A recent study on world cup soccer players shows working out in sync with your cycle can actually lead to better athletic results. For example, not pushing yourself as much during the week of your period can lead to better recovery, leading to better performance the following weeks and overall. 

Of course, training completely in sync with your cycle is not always possible (especially in team sport dynamics). That’s why so many athletes end up competing during their actual period! 

But having a solid education around hormonal cycles and periods (and how they work) can have a positive impact on training, performance, and can help make sure you’re maximizing enjoyment by tuning into your body and its needs. 

Forgetting the Fear (of Leaks)

Kt models wearing Leakproof Boyshort period underwear display: full

Our study also found that 75% of athletes have a fear of leaking while competing

And honestly…that fear is valid. 

In that same viral social media post by Emma Pallant Brown, she mentions that the reason her period blood shows on her clothes is because she has not found a tampon that can manage her flow for the duration of the 3-hour race. 

Disposable period products like pads and tampons can be uncomfortable and impractical during sports. They can cause chafing, aren’t always leak-proof, and require frequent changing. That means they can be less ideal for long practices or games.

But, in 2024, you shouldn’t have to choose between staying protected and playing the sport you love. Each year more period products are released by innovative companies specifically designed to help you bleed with ease and stay protected while you’re out there competing!

Period underwear can be a game-changer for athletic teens, allowing for more freedom of movement and ideal for wearing for long stretches of time. Period underwear are also designed to absorb up to about 2.5 super tampons worth of blood. 

It’s absorbent protection without the bulk!

Other alternatives include menstrual cups and discs, which can be worn for long durations (like soccer practice) and are typically more absorbent than tampons or pads. 

But even if you do leak, that’s totally OK

There is nothing wrong with you, your body, or the blood that leaks. We’re socially accustomed to seeing all kinds of blood in movies, music—and even sporting events like wrestling and UFC.

Period blood should be no different. 

Advice From Your Sporty Big Sis 

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So, I got my first period EVER just hours before the biggest basketball tryout of my (then) life and it really felt like my world was ending. 

Did I cry? Yes.

Did I want to stay home? Yes.

Did I stay home? Absolutely not!

I nervously and messily slotted a thick, bulky, disposable pad into my underwear, put on two (yes two) pairs of spandex underwear under my basketball shorts and headed out the door. 

I remember being so uncomfortable and wishing I had better options. I spent every water break running to and from the bathroom changing my pad, letting my bottom breath (lol), and most importantly making sure I didn’t have any leaks!  

But ultimately, I cared about the tryout so much and I didn’t want to let my period—or anything else for that matter—get in the way. 

And guess what? It all worked out. 

I made the team, and over the years, found ways to keep playing sports while having a regular period. I wish I could go back and have better conversations with my coaches and trainers, or had access to products that actually worked, but it was a different time. 

Overall, when I look back, I just feel proud of the girl who stayed true to herself and what she was passionate about and did her best with the circumstances that were presented to her. 

Periods should never be a reason for you to feel sidelined. If you’re passionate about sports and you’ve put into the time and energy to be the best player you can be, you deserve the chance to, well, play! 

By tackling the taboo, upping our education, and finding products that work we can help to keep more teens in more sports. The Sport Your Period initiative is on a mission to empower every teen to do just that by highlighting diverse, strong, bleeding voices in sport!

Together we can create a world where periods are no longer a barrier to participation but simply another part of life that we handle with confidence, ease, and community. 

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