MINNEAPOLIS — International Women's Day is a moment of celebration and time to talk about the truths of women playing in sports.
For years, women have been almost ignored in sports medicine research. In fact, there's little female-specific data to inform people about training, rehabilitation and protocols. The guidelines that exist are mostly based on male athletes.
"Sport, as a social institution, was built, and still is built, by men, for men and run by men," said Dr. Nicole LaVoi, director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women. "They sort of said, this works for men so we’re just going to apply that model to women and that just doesn’t work."
Dr. LaVoi was one of the hosts of a first-of-its-kind event called the Female Athlete Summit. Dozens of healthcare workers were in attendance at Huntington Bank Stadium on Friday.
"What I love is the athletes are really good, they're authentic, they're capable and they are great role models," said Dr. LaVoi, a former athlete who dedicates her life to that missing research.
She says that the wide research gap impacts performance and narrowing it can help sustain athletes and prevent injuries, like ACL tears. The experts at Friday's event say that injury can happen up to eight times more often among female athletes than male ones.
In fact, last year, 20 elite soccer players had that injury and studies show more than half will drop out of the sport because they're so uncertain of their recovery.
"Women are different; we have different injury patterns, different anatomy, that makes the care of the female athlete different," said sports medicine physician Dr. Heather Bergeson. "We have a lot to learn because the same way we treat injuries in males, may not be the same we need to treat or prevent them in females."
Dr. Bergeson says women are often even left out of studies. From 2014 to 2020, she says only 34% of participants were women and just 9% were peri and post menopausal.
"I think the tide is turning and we're really now starting to see an inflection point," said Dr. Bergeson. "We just have to make sure the messaging and the studies and the ways we're supporting women continue."
The ongoing goal is to keep women in sports. And ultimately, better protect them both on, and off the court or field.
"Just keep moving and find a movement that's joyful," said Dr. LaVoi.
Watch more Breaking The News:
Watch all of the latest stories from Breaking The News in our YouTube playlist: