Sport in Her Shoes Conference

Sherborne Girls is delighted to be hosting a conference in collaboration with The Well,  addressing issues that are of particular relevance to female athletes and their coaches. This ground-breaking event is part of a growing movement to improve the experience of girls and young women in sport. 

The conference will host over 200 girls aged 13-19 who may be aspiring to, or already be involved in performance pathways, as well as PE Teachers, Coaches and Sport Directors who have a shared interest in addressing issues relating to female performance, participation and enjoyment of sport.

Topics will include:

• Puberty: what happens to a girl’s body and mind 
• Breast health and pelvic floor dysfunction in athletes
• Optimising training and performing through the menstrual cycle
• Sports Bras: ensuring girls have the right type and fit of sports bra
• Under-fuelling and/or over-training (RED-S)
• Developing injury resilience in female athletes
• The female filter: facilities and culture

These topics are covered within PSHEE lessons but The Well aims to educate girls, and those who support them, on how we can apply that learning to enhance the way we teach girls sport and physical activity.

Dr Bella Smith, Women’s Health Specialist and the GP for The Well said, “We would like every girl to leave the Sport in Her Shoes conference with a greater understanding of their own bodies and how the practical application of that knowledge can give them the confidence to achieve what they are capable of.”

During adolescence, girls are having to manage the physical, psychological and emotional changes that puberty brings, and this happens over several years and can present significant barriers to sport.

As Dr Emma Ross, former Lead Physiologist at the English Institute of Sport and the Scientist for The Well explained: “Girls drop out of sport at twice the rate of boys. A staggering 64% of girls will have quit sport by the age of finishing puberty (16-17).  Barriers to participation include periods, breast development, body confidence, poor body literacy, a skill deficit and not finding activities that are enjoyable. We can do something about all of these and there is a distinct lack of support and advice, particularly in relation to sport and exercise and girls often feel unprepared and vulnerable.  We want to change this and the Sport in Her Shoes Conference is a great start.”

Baz Moffat, former GB rower and the Coach for The Well added, “Sport in Her Shoes will be the first of many events designed to educate and empower young girls about their bodies to thrive in sport and in life.  We want to bust taboos surrounding female health and start to normalise these conversations in language that everyone can understand.”

Jayne Dart, Director of Sport at Sherborne Girls, concluded, “It is an enormous privilege to be working with The Well who are an inspirational team of women, with credible experience and a powerful message to share. At Sherborne Girls we feel we are at the forefront of a movement that has the potential to transform the experience girls have in sport and by opening this conference to schools across the Southwest we hope to share that knowledge as widely as possible.”

The conference takes place on 22 September 2021 at Sherborne Girls, Dorset.

Further information:

The Well, which launched in 2021, was founded by three women, Baz Moffat, former GB Rower, (the Coach); Dr Bella Smith, GP and Women’s Health Specialist, (the GP); and Dr Emma Ross, former Lead Physiologist at the English Institute of Sport, (the Scientist); all experts across the spectrum of women’s health and performance with a combined desire and passion to make sport, fitness and physical activity a place where women belong and thrive.

The Well is for all women and those who support her, from puberty to menopause, they want to help educate and empower women so they can become active and use exercise as one of the solutions to help alleviate symptoms of many female health issues. 

For those women who are inactive to become active, for those women who are active but want to do more but don’t know how, and those women at the elite end of their game who to increase their performance, The Well has the knowledge and the expertise to empower those women to flourish in sport, in health and in life.

Twitter: @thewellhq / Instagram: @thewell_hq