Let’s Get Talking

(Athletic Performance and the Menstrual Cycle)

This animation was commissioned by the Performance Pathways team at UK Sport, the English Institute of Sport, and Sport Wales. The goal of the resource was to help enable coaches and other athletic support staff open dialogues with young athletes in order to better support and accommodate the onset of menstruation. The animation also aims to help coaches and young athletes better understand the menstrual cycle, not just for its potential limitations and necessary accommodations, but to also better anticipate moments in the cycle where training might be extra beneficial, and motivation and focus might be higher. Above all, the animation seeks to demystify and destigmatise the menstrual cycle and open dialogue to better support young athletes in their training and wellbeing.  Key to accomplishing this were a limited and cheerful colour palette, stylised and diverse characters, and a mix of show and tell, incorporating charts to enable deeper understanding of the cycle as a repeating pattern, while also centering the real-world impacts of menstruation, both positive and negative, in embodied experience with interconnected characters. The result is uplifting and informative!