Women in Sport

March 8, 2021 Metrifit

Off

History of Women’s Sport

The origin of organized women’s sport can be traced back to the 6th century B.C. Although the ancient Olympic games were initially organized in honor of the 12 Olympian Gods of Greece, 5 of which were women (Hera, Athena, Artemis, Demeter and Aphrodite), in the middle of the 6th century BC, the Greek government banned all women from any sort of participation in the competition. The ancient Greek women formed their own competition – ‘The Heraean Games’ which took place every year and involved only one event – the stadion – which was a running competition similar to the men’s event but 1/6 shorter. There are many key dates and many inspirational women who set standards and opened doors for many others along the way. We have listed just some of these to give an idea of how far women’s sport has come since the 19th century.

1842 – Ann Glanville formed a crew of four female rowers who took part in local regattas often beating the men
1896 – The first women’s collegiate basketball championship was played
1900 – 22 women (2.2 per cent) out of a total of 997 athletes competed in the Olympics for the first time over five sports (tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrian and golf)
1921 – On 5 December 1921, the English FA banned its members from allowing women’s football to be played at their grounds and forbade its members from acting as referees or linesman at women’s games.
1969 – The English Women’s Football Association was formed
1972 – Title IX passed in the US stating that ‘No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance’
1976 – Nadia Comăneci, won 3 Olympic gold medals at the 1976 Summer Olympics and was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastic event
1981 – The first women were co-opted to the International Olympics committee
1982 – The NCCA began sponsoring women’s basketball
1991 – A historic decision by the International Olympic Committee stipulated that any new sport seeking to be included had to include women’s events
1996 – The Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) league was founded as the women’s counterpart to the NBA
1999 – Carolina Morace became the first female coach of a men’s professional soccer team in Italy
2012 – The London Olympics were the first games in which women competed in all sports on the program
2015 – Tickets for the Women’s Singles final of the 2015 US Open sell out faster than the Men’s final, a first in tournament history
2018 – In October 2018, the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires were the first fully gender balanced Olympic event ever
2021 – More than a century after women first competed at the Olympic Games, female athlete numbers will finally be almost at parity with those of the men at the Tokyo Olympic Games. A new record of 48.8% is expected with a commitment to reach full gender equality for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Challenges to gender inequality

Not many people are aware of the popularity of women’s soccer in 1920s England. In the early 20th century, women’s football grew almost as quickly as the men’s game, and reached new heights during the first world war. A women’s soccer match in 1920 had 53,000 in attendance (Dick Kerr’s ladies vs St. Helen’s Ladies) at Everton’s Goodison Park with a further 14,000 outside the grounds. In December 1921, the FA (National Football Association) banned women from playing on Football League grounds and forbade its members from acting as referee or linesman at women’s games. They claimed that the game of football was ‘quite unsuitable’ for females and shouldn’t be encouraged. Several doctors agreed that the sport posed a serious physical risk to women. This ban wasn’t lifted until 1971. Similar bans took place in Brazil, Germany and France.

Female participation in sport began a dramatic increase in the last quarter of the 20th century and the current rate of change is one of the major trends in the sport industry. But women who play sports today can still face many obstacles. Speaking at the Women in Sport Summit in Melbourne in 2019, Kate Jenkins, the sex discrimination commissioner for the Australian Human Rights Commission, outlined a number of key challenges to gender equality in sport over the coming years. These include:-

Equal Pay
Support from Media and sponsors
Participation at Grass Roots level
Fan Engagement
Facilities and Access
Governance
Respect

Fan engagement for women’s sport is higher than ever but the majority of female athletes are still working a second job and this has a huge effect on their preparation for high performance. Female athletes are often balancing work, training and travel. Experiences of women and girls at all level of sport is critical to engagement and the continued growth of women’s sport.

The effect of the Covid Pandemic on Women’s Sport

The impact of Covid 19 on sport in general has meant uncertainty and a huge loss in revenue. It is true that the same issues impacted both men and women but not all sports, or athletes, have been affected equally. The pandemic in many ways has exposed the already fragile foundations of women’s sport and the rescheduling of men’s events in a lot of cases was prioritized over women’s competitions. In The impact of Covid-19 on women’s sport – how the virus compounds funding disparities, Lydia Banerjee uses women’s soccer as a case study to point out some of the discrepancies:-

Liverpool, winners of the 2019/2020 Premier League won approx £175million. Chelsea, winners of the Women’s Super League received just £100,000
The Premier League returned after the initial lockdown period and completed their season giving these clubs a chance to earn from broadcast revenue and other streams. The Women’s Super League didn’t return.
There has been a huge drop in revenue across the board, given that matches have been played behind closed doors, but the clubs do receive the broadcasting revenue. In 2018/2019 clubs earned at least £82m in broadcast revenue with the top clubs earning nearly double that. The Women’s Super League relies heavily on fans attending their matches and earn very little from broadcasting rights.

She points out that in terms of Covid-19 this means that:-

Men’s clubs have much greater reserves to call on during this pandemic. Women’s teams have no reserves.
Male players often earn enough to have gym equipment in their own homes, allowing them to continue training. Most females do not have this available and often cannot attend gyms due to lockdown protocols.
Funding to support high level of testing requirements is not readily available for the women’s teams.
The Women’s FA cup was suspended during the FA cup as due to the more amateur nature of the game they were unable to train and compete during the restrictions.

Linda further points out that in most sports there is a direct correlation between success and funding – a classic chicken and egg scenario. She outlines that what is needed now is serious commitments from clubs and other governing bodies to secure funding for the women’s game. The current pandemic risks undermining all the years of recent progress in women’s sport.

Taking on gender inequality

In March 2019, the US Women’s National Team filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against the US Soccer Federation. In terms of success, the US women in recent times, have won 4 World cups and 4 Olympic gold medals. In court, lawyers on behalf of the US Soccer Federation stated

WNT and MNT players do not perform equal work requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions

MNT have responsibility for competing in multiple soccer tournaments with the potential for generating a total of more than $40 million in prize money for U.S. Soccer every four years…WNT compete in only one soccer tournament every four years that has the potential to generate any prize money at all, and most recently that amounted to one-tenth of the amount the MNT players could generate.”

Coca-Cola, one of the sport’s largest sponsors, blasted U.S. Soccer calling the comments “unacceptable and offensive” and requested at the time to meet the federation immediately to express their concerns. On Wednesday, March 11th, U.S. Soccer President Carlos Cordeiro apologized for

the offense and pain caused by language in this week’s court filing, which did not reflect the values of our Federation or our tremendous admiration of our Women’s National Team. Our WNT players are incredibly talented and work tirelessly, as they have demonstrated time and again from their Olympic Gold medals to their World Cup titles

He resigned from his role the day after. The case went to trial in May 2020. A US district court judge rejected the USWNT’s allegations of gender discrimination and ruled in favor of the US Soccer Federation, declaring that the team had not been underpaid. It allowed their lawsuit to proceed provided it focused on working conditions, such as team travel, accommodation and professional support. The case was settled in December 2020 where the US Soccer Federation said it

denies that it did anything wrong and maintains that it has not discriminated against plaintiffs on the basis of sex in pay or working conditions

Under the terms of the settlement, members of the women’s team will now receive the same conditions as their male counterparts, including chartered flights for team travel, comparable hotel accommodation and specialized professional support services. The USWNT players intend to appeal the decision regarding equal pay.

Leading the way

In October 2018, the Youth Olympic Games Buenos Aires were the first fully gender balanced Olympic event ever. More than a century after women first competed at the Olympic Games, female athlete numbers will finally be almost at parity with those of the men at Tokyo Olympic Games. A new record of 48.8% is expected with a commitment to reach full gender equality for the Olympic Games, Paris 2024.

Global initiatives are helping to bring women in sport to the forefront. The 20×20 initiative in Ireland had the tag line ‘If she can’t see it, she can’t be it’. It became a national movement to champion girls and women in sport and it was the first initiative of its kind in Ireland. Its main objective was to create a cultural shift in society through a 20% increase in participation, media coverage and attendance in women’s sport by the end of 2020. All Irish people regardless of age and gender were asked to #showyourstripes for women in sport. By the end of 2020, over 76 sporting bodies signed the 20×20 charter; 600 clubs across 45 sports signed the club charter and 28 out of Ireland’s 30 national universities signed the 20×20 3rd Level Charter. The charter set out the commitment of each sporting body to bring women’s sport to the fore and provide equal opportunities to girls and women in regards to coverage, participation and attendance in their sport. The 20×20 campaign created 17% increase in participation, 34% in attendances and 50% in online and print coverage.

Team Heroine is an organization started to help brands and right’s holders unleash the power of women’s sport to create and captivate fans. They selected The 10 Best Women’s Sport Campaigns Of 2020 in a recent article. Their top 3 picks for 2020 were:-

3rd place: Sport England x This Girl Can – Me Again Again
This campaign focused on the reality that many women across England (and the world) were facing with the added pressures due to the Covid pandemic. They focused on inspiring women to get active in a way that suited them emphasizing that there is no right or wrong way to get active – If it gets your heart rate up, it counts.

2nd place: Super Bowl x Microsoft – Katie Sowers Be The One
Microsoft used the biggest and most expensive moment in US sport, the Super Bowl to celebrate San Francisco 49ers Offensive Assistant Coach, Katie Sowers who was the first female coach to feature in the Super Bowl. It paid homage to females breaking down barriers and showed the world that women belong in all areas of sport

1st place: ESPN x WNBA – WNBA Orange Hoodies
ESPN teamed up with the WNBA for their the #OrangeHoodie campaign to raise awareness of its opening weekend in July 2020. The NBA’s players promoted their counterparts in the WNBA by wearing the orange hoodie. It became the best-selling WNBA item ever and the first game of the season was the most-watched WNBA opener since 2012.

There are many more initiatives like this globally and all help bring awareness and attention to the development of women’s sport.

The future

Despite all the obstacles, the future for women’s sports does look bright and there are so many more opportunities for young women in sport than there were even 10 years ago. Women’s sport has started to thrive even without fully funded systems and infrastructure. The FIFA’s women’s world cup in 2019 in France was the 8th women’s world cup in soccer. The final between the United States and Netherlands was the most watched match in Women’s World Cup history. According to FIFA data, the match received an average live audience of 82.18 million, up by 56% on the 2015 final.

In her article Sex, the World Cup and Breaking Up the Boys’ Club, Dr. Emily Ryall commented that

Great sport requires only three things:
– excellence of skill,
– uncertainty of outcome
– and a crescendo of drama until the last second.
Gender or sex is irrelevant

Organizations such as the Women’s Sports Foundation(set up in 1974 by Billie Jean King) and more recently the 20×20 initiative aim to create a cultural shift in our perception of girls and women in life and sport.

This isn’t a ‘women for women’ initiative, it’s ‘all of society for all of society’. If sport is good, which we know it to be, then more sport is better. If we all play, we all win. 20×20 is asking all sections of Irish society to show their stripes and pledge one small action to increase the visibility of women’s sport in Ireland because if she can’t see it, she can’t be it

About Metrifit

Metrifit is proud to support women’s sport and offers specific female tracking. Using Metrifit helps to provide deeper context to inform the decision making process, helping athletes perform at their best. Subjective wellness questionnaires along with player training load data helps drive professional conversation and actionable tasks to enhance the sporting results and quality of life for athletes and teams.
Metrifit’s athlete monitoring and well-being software is used world-wide in team environments in Universities, High Schools, National Associations and with professional and amateur teams across many sports. Our new lifestyle profiling functionality is based on years of experience in this area – we know the key factors that underlie optimal performance. This is available for coaches and teams but also for individual athletes. It provides an essential baseline to assess where you are, and set goals and objectives to improve in key areas that ultimately will improve your performance.

To find out more contact us at or click on ‘Request Demo’ below.

REQUEST FREE DEMO

“Metrifit has allowed us to gain better insight on our athletes and their individual stress response to training and outside factors. This has helped us to make daily adjustments when necessary, to further enhance their development which has led to higher performance levels, faster recovery, and a reduction in injuries. The new lifestyle profiling survey has been an invaluable insight into the lifestyle habits of my athletes and has helped focus on key areas that can be improved, benefiting athletes on their performance journey.“

Dan Rickaby

Assistant S&C Coach, Tulane University

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2021-04-27T11:02:12+01:00

Dan Rickaby

Assistant S&C Coach, Tulane University

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/dan-rickaby/

“Metrifit has become a multifactorial platform that has helped up us provide deeper context to the decisions that we make on a daily basis in regards to the physical development of our student-athletes. We have intimately been utilizing both the subjective wellness questionnaire along with player training load data to drive professional conversation and actionable tasks to enhance the sporting results and quality of life for our student-athletes with unparalleled success.”

Kevin Schultz
Associate Director of Strength & Conditioning
Director of Olympic Strength & Conditioning
University of Wisconsin

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-20T12:12:33+01:00

Kevin Schultz
Associate Director of Strength & Conditioning
Director of Olympic Strength & Conditioning
University of Wisconsin

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/kevin-schultz-full/

"Metrifit has enabled us to bring to life the complexiities associated with managing the academic, pastoral and sporting demands of pupils aged 13 - 18 in a UK day and boarding school environment It has provided another bridge between coaches and sports pupis, giving pupils a space to provide honest self reflection on wellbeing and providing coaches a head start on appropriate freshness and fatigue balance across the school week."

Graham Williams

Athletic Development Coach, MSc ASCC
Millfield School, UK

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-19T14:14:37+01:00

Graham Williams

Athletic Development Coach, MSc ASCC
Millfield School, UK

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/graham-williams-short/

"When our players have been only training with the national team Metrifit allows me to liaise very closely with our conditioning coaches to manage load and intensity of training during training camps. I recommend it to anyone who wants an easy to use monitoring system."

Dave Passmore

Head Coach, Irish Hockey

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-15T12:51:46+01:00

Dave Passmore

Head Coach, Irish Hockey

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/dave-passmore-short/

"Metrifit is an outstanding platform to track your athletes’ wellness. It’s simple to use, easy to implement and gives outstanding information on your athlete’s subjective wellness which can be used to assign training loads. I highly recommend Metrifit for any coach looking to begin implementing technology into their program"

Brijesh Patel

Quinnipiac University, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-12T17:58:50+01:00

Brijesh Patel

Quinnipiac University, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/brijesh-patel/

"Metrifit has been used to gain a more in-depth insight into our student-athlete’s progressive athletic development and balance relative to their particular sporting and training activities, academic studies and total load. Metrifit doesn’t just help with optimising our Sports Scholarship students’ athletic performance. It assists us in helping them get the balance right between their sporting activities and academic studies."

Richard Deuchrass

Lincoln University Athletic Performance Manager

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-12T13:58:58+01:00

Richard Deuchrass

Lincoln University Athletic Performance Manager

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/richard-deuchrass/

"While working with the Clare Senior Hurling team (2012-2014), Horse Sport Ireland (U25 European Eventing Champions) and currently with the Limerick Senior Hurling Team, Metrifit provides our team with critical information across a number of essential aspects of elite athletic performance. You don’t really know how your players are responding to training stimuli unless you have daily data and Metrifit provides and easy to use and highly effective means of finding this critical information."

Joe O’Connor

NISUS Fitness, S&C Coach Clare Senior Hurling, Horse Sport Ireland and Limerick Senior Hurling

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-12T13:55:49+01:00

Joe O’Connor

NISUS Fitness, S&C Coach Clare Senior Hurling, Horse Sport Ireland and Limerick Senior Hurling

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/joe-oconnor/

"What’s more impressive is the ability to utilize the basics but at the same time have the capability to explore detailed and intricate correlative data points that helps us as coaches gain the most from our athletes. Metrifit has also served as an easy communications hub to ensure essential information is passed to the appropriate team. We are excited to what the future from Metrifit will bring."

Michael Torres

CEO, Shift Performance, Miami

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-14T14:09:22+01:00

Michael Torres

CEO, Shift Performance, Miami

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/michael-torres-short/

"I wanted to reach out to thank Metrifit for an extremely successful season. Our Regis University women’s side won the ultra-competitive RMAC with a 11-0-1 record. Our student-athletes reported in post-season interviews the positive use of Metrifit that enabled their own reflection about their bodies and also found value providing information to coaches for our strategic planning purposes. On more than one occasion, we recognized deviations from norms and were able to step-in with a quick chat to help a player get back on track or refer her to the proper support personnel for further assistance. Fantastic! "

J.B. Belzer
Head Coach, Women's Soccer at Regis University

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2018-09-13T13:47:09+01:00

J.B. Belzer
Head Coach, Women's Soccer at Regis University

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/jb-belzer/

"Metrifit has been hugely beneficial in supporting our coaches and back room staff to track and monitor our players training loads, performance and readiness to train. Having a one-stop shop for collating all relevant information across a holistic picture of the player allows us to help prevent burnout, injury and provide timely feedback and communication to all."

Eamonn Fitzmaurice

Kerry Senior Football, Manager

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-12T14:01:46+01:00

Eamonn Fitzmaurice

Kerry Senior Football, Manager

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/eamonn-fitzmaurice/

"The ability to acutely monitor stress and recovery and make the correct adjustments was critical to our health and performance throughout the NCAA tournament. Metrifit has a very strong educational component. With the information we get, I am able to clearly understand the habits and behaviors of our athletes, and how they may be impacting performance."

Erik Helland

Director of Strength & Conditioning and Head Strength Coach Men’s basketball, University of Wisconsin

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-12T11:42:14+01:00

Erik Helland

Director of Strength & Conditioning and Head Strength Coach Men’s basketball, University of Wisconsin

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/erik-helland/

"When COVID altered college athletics as we knew it, Metrifit came to the rescue. This intuitive athlete monitoring, health and well-being system provides the athlete, coach, and sports medicine staff a way to monitor and balance the physical, emotional, health and well-being of our athlete’s. Metrifit provided that calm in the middle of the perfect storm for our entire athletic department for the future. Thank you to the entire Metrifit family for assisting our department with a seamless process."

Jennifer McIntosh

Head Athletic Trainer, Colorado School of Mines

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2021-04-07T16:43:52+01:00

Jennifer McIntosh

Head Athletic Trainer, Colorado School of Mines

"When COVID altered college athletics as we knew it, Metrifit came to the rescue. This intuitive athlete monitoring, health and well-being system provides the athlete, coach, and sports medicine staff a way to monitor and balance the physical, emotional, health and well-being of our athlete’s. Metrifit provided that calm in the middle of the perfect storm for our entire athletic department for the future. Thank you to the entire Metrifit family for assisting our department with a seamless process."

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/jennifer-mcintosh/

"Metrifit has provided me with an opportunity to get to know and understand our players on a different level. I've found our conversations to be more intentional, which has been so important in developing deeper, more authentic relationships. Ultimately, understanding their needs has allowed me to push buttons that leads them to be better people and inspires them to be better athletes"

Ryan Osborn

Head Basketball Coach, Carmel High School

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2021-04-27T11:10:43+01:00

Ryan Osborn

Head Basketball Coach, Carmel High School

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/ryan-osborn/

"Metrifit is an amazingly easy-to-use yet comprehensive monitoring tool for training and recovery! The elite athletes we work with are able track and monitor their situations and states daily, in order to maximize their performance loads and recovery practices. This also helps our coaches customize the training programs ‎more effectively. I'd recommend this for any serious team / athlete or coach in wanting to bring out the very best in their long-term performances! "

Edgar K. Tham

Founder and Chief Sport & Performance Psychologist, SportPsych Consulting (Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines)

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-12T18:03:35+01:00

Edgar K. Tham

Founder and Chief Sport & Performance Psychologist, SportPsych Consulting (Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines)

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/edgar-k-tham-2/

"The success of young athletes using Metrifit was an interesting challenge in the Elite Soccer space… After six months of learning, creating habit with teenagers the project is a huge success…. 90% completion rate has allowed us deal with all the key KPI’s that are needed in their development. In our space with developing athletes…Metrifit is a godsend and is the most important tool in this space."

Niall O’Driscoll

Academy Directory, SJ.B (St. Joseph’s Bray ) Academy

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-16T16:51:01+01:00

Niall O’Driscoll

Academy Directory, SJ.B (St. Joseph’s Bray ) Academy

"The success of young athletes using Metrifit was an interesting challenge in the Elite Soccer space… After six months of learning, creating habit with teenagers the project is a huge success…. 90% completion rate has allowed us deal with all the key KPI’s that are needed in their development. In our space with developing athletes…Metrifit is a godsend and is the most important tool in this space."

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/niall-odriscoll-short/

"Metrifit is an integral part of the set up within the senior and intermediate inter-county Camogie. The data collected daily on the individual players is critical to the decision making of the backroom team including, managers, trainers, selectors, physiotherapist and indeed myself. As a nutritionist it allows me to monitor the quality of the player’s diet, energy levels, sleep pattern and overall wellbeing."

Yvonne Treacy

Nutritionist, Wexford Camogie

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-13T16:38:55+01:00

Yvonne Treacy

Nutritionist, Wexford Camogie

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/yvonne-treacy-short/

"The holistic approach of medical, physical, emotional and even tech/tactical; bringing together what we need to monitor and evaluate our University players. “If you can’t measure it – it doesn’t exist.” I know we were the first Canadian University to use the program and I know many more will be asking for it in the future! I highly recommend Metrifit."

Tino Fusco, B.Sc. ChPC

Head Coach, Women's Soccer, Mount Royal University (Canada)

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-12T14:25:37+01:00

Tino Fusco, B.Sc. ChPC

Head Coach, Women's Soccer, Mount Royal University (Canada)

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/tino-fusco-b-sc-chpc/

“I have been using Metrifit for the past number of years and I have found it to be an excellent piece of software. It is extremely easy to use and has proved very beneficial in preparing myself for competition. The ability to view my health and wellbeing stats everyday and see how this influences my performance in both practice and competition has been very helpful. I have been able to put more effort into key areas such as fluid intake, sleep and balanced golf practice and training. Having the ability to view my detailed stats helps me to understand exactly where I am and how I need to adjust my training or health choices. I have found using Metrifit this past year has been a crucial help for me to play well. As I now have turned 50 I am playing on The Champions tour in the USA and have played well during my first year. Metrifit has been as important as my golf equipment in achieving that success.”

Robert Karlsson, Professional Golfer

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2019-03-04T20:48:39+00:00

Robert Karlsson, Professional Golfer

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/robert-karlsson/

"Our coaches through Metrifit basically have an ‘X-ray’ vision into the habits and lifestyles and stressors their athletes have on a day to day basis, especially when they are not together. Thus the professional authentic relationships created through the casual conversations, reflection process and application provided is priceless."

Brian Clarke

Head Strength and Conditioning Co-ordinator,Noblesville High School

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-12T14:21:17+01:00

Brian Clarke

Head Strength and Conditioning Co-ordinator,Noblesville High School

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/brian-clarke/

"Metrifit provides immediate insight and feedback on the physical and mental states of the student-athletes. It allows us to adjust practices and training sessions to accurately meet needs. We have been able to identify potential injury concerns, track current injury status and monitor return to play progress."

Kari Thompson

Head Volley Ball Coach, Southern Illinois University

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-16T15:08:31+01:00

Kari Thompson

Head Volley Ball Coach, Southern Illinois University

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/kari-thompson/

"We started using Metrifit to see if it gave us better predictability and allowed easier monitoring than our DIY excel sheets prior to the Tokyo qualifiers. In a sport where measuring training load is very difficult, Metrifit filled a huge gap in our ability to monitor our athletes’ performance state and recovery. After some months of collecting data I was able to clearly see when to back off and when to keep going with different aspects of the training programme, as well as when to provide extra care and support for our elite athlete – and without a doubt it is much more informative and sensitive than our DIY model, not to mention much easier! Looking forward to the next Olympic cycle with Metrifit as one of our essential tools."

Emma Hawke, PhD Exercise Physiology

Coach - Sweden Climbing, Olympic Offensive - Female Coach Swedish Olympic Committee, Senior Lecturer - Coach education programme (Sweden)

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2021-05-28T12:30:33+01:00

Emma Hawke, PhD Exercise Physiology

Coach - Sweden Climbing, Olympic Offensive - Female Coach Swedish Olympic Committee, Senior Lecturer - Coach education programme (Sweden)

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/emma-hawke/

"I've found Metrifit an invaluable resource. Not only to monitor daily wellness, readiness to train and training load within the squad, but also to monitor training load externally with additional external squads. Furthermore, Metrifit has acted as a key teaching tool, allowing young athletes associate good sleeping, eating and recovery habits to an improved sense of wellness and thus superior on-field performance."

Tommy Mooney

Strength and Conditioning Coach at DCU Sport and with Dublin Minor GAA

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-14T13:31:14+01:00

Tommy Mooney

Strength and Conditioning Coach at DCU Sport and with Dublin Minor GAA

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/tommy-mooney-short/

"Metrifit has been instrumental in helping our international Managers, Coaches and Medical teams to identify players who require modifications in training loads or who are struggling with some aspect of their preparation for, or recovery from, training and matches. One of the big strengths of this technology is that it allows our Managers and Medical teams to monitor players both during international competition and outside of these times."

Dan Horan

Head of Fitness for International Football/Fitness Coach Men's Senior Team
Football Association of Ireland

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-16T15:11:55+01:00

Dan Horan

Head of Fitness for International Football/Fitness Coach Men's Senior Team
Football Association of Ireland

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/dan-horan-short/

"The Metrifit RTP platform is an excellent tool to monitor, evaluate and make the right decisions for your athlete’s well being and performance. It enables coaches and athletes to track and sift through all the variables that underpin well being and performance on a day to day basis and to address an issue or potential issue in real time. A simply wonderful product."

Dr. Dale Richardson

CEO Achieve Total Performance Pty Ltd

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2019-03-04T21:38:45+00:00

Dr. Dale Richardson

CEO Achieve Total Performance Pty Ltd

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/dale-richardson/

"Metrifit has been a great asset in helping guide the numerous decisions we make on a daily basis, that have a direct impact on our athletes well-being and progress. The platform is extremely user friendly and the reports and analytics that reflect the data collected daily, can be catered to what you are most specifically curious to know about the athletes both individually and collectively"

Aaron Mansfield

Head Coach, LMU Lions, Loyola Marymount University

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2021-04-29T15:31:16+01:00

Aaron Mansfield

Head Coach, LMU Lions, Loyola Marymount University

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/aaron-mansfield/

"We have been using Metrifit for the past season at Cornish Pirates. It has been greatly beneficial for us to have our wellness and load management data on one easy to access system. We have found this invaluable over the past season whereby Coaches, Physios and Strength and conditioning coaches can monitor both the psychological and physiological load of our athletes on a daily basis."

Paul Cremin

Head Physiotherapist, Cornish Pirates Rugby Club

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-16T15:06:04+01:00

Paul Cremin

Head Physiotherapist, Cornish Pirates Rugby Club

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/paul-cremin-short/

"We have found metrifit to be a great tool to ensure we can monitor and adapt our athletes training loads regularly. This programme has ensured our coaches and staff can maximize all training and recovery to each individual needs on a day to day basis. It is user friendly and provides excellent visual data that can be viewed by both practitioners and athletes. With the help of Metrifit support team, we have personalized it to suit our specific sport and training needs. It's a excellent athlete monitoring tool and is essential for assisting the team to perform at their best"

Lee Stutely

Team Manager and Athlete Support Services Coordinator at Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2021-06-25T11:19:31+01:00

Lee Stutely

Team Manager and Athlete Support Services Coordinator at Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/lee-stutely/

"The visualisation of data allows for easy discussion between athletes, performance staff and medical teams and offers the potential to predict and avoid issues which could hamper performance. Over the year the data has proven instrumental in our critical decision making. Metrifit is a excellent monitoring tool however the unsung additional aspect is the fantastic and tireless customer support."

Robert Walsh

Strength Coach

Nederlandse Ski Vereniging (Netherlands Ski/Snowboard Team)

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-07-25T14:10:08+01:00

Robert Walsh

Strength Coach

Nederlandse Ski Vereniging (Netherlands Ski/Snowboard Team)

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/robert-walsh-short-testimonial/

"The cutting edge technology of Metrifit enables Managers, Coaches and Players to use this innovative technology to gain these crucial percentage points over their opponents in a technologically advanced yet easy to use web-based platform. The data collated on a daily basis greatly informs Management Teams while the educational aspect of the system really appeals to modern day athletes who are constantly looking for that extra edge."

Cian O’Neill

Kildare Senior Football Manager

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-14T13:24:03+01:00

Cian O’Neill

Kildare Senior Football Manager

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/cian-oneill-short/

"As a school that cannot spend large amounts of money on athlete monitoring, Metrifit has provided us with a great tool for monitoring stress and athlete readiness at a great rate. Being athlete driven, we're able to get buy-in from the athlete, and drive individual or team wide conversations regarding lifestyle and performance education in the direction needed. Seeing acute and chronic stress on a real-time basis has greatly improved the way we schedule workouts and arrange travel during the season."

Derek Bol

Strength & Conditioning Coach, Valparaiso University

Metrifit Athlete Monitoring System

2017-06-20T22:26:45+01:00

Derek Bol

Strength & Conditioning Coach, Valparaiso University

https://metrifit.com/blog/testimonials/derek-bol/

"Gaelic football is an intermittent high-intensity collision-based field sport requiring high levels of endurance, strength, power, agility, and speed as well as proficiency with gaelic-related skills. These components comprise the training modalities used at the elite level and the monitoring of such a vast range of modalities is central to peak performance. The athlete monitoring tool Metrifit allows us to do this and can keep us one step ahead of our competitors."