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Medical & technical support

Sports institutions can adopt different medical and technical support provisions for high-performance female athletes. Indeed, being aware of the costs that a medical team can generate, the mutualization of this medical staff between several clubs and/or sports seems to be an excellent opportunity.

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MENTORS

Limiting their costs would help reduce one of the barriers to top-level sports. Covering these costs, even partly, can make a difference to top-level athletes. To take this a step further, it is worth considering the specific needs of women as part of a personalized care program by sports institutions. The equality of technical and medical support for men and women athletes varies from one country to another. It seems essential to move towards equity in the support provided, particularly at the medical level, with the necessary adaptation to the women’s specificities.

DIRECTIVE & RECOMMANDATIONS

There are no regulations on this subject by non-sporting institutions.

SPORTS & FEDERATIONS

Sporting institutions sometimes provide for a mandatory minimum number of technical and medical people in the structures. However, these situations remain at the margin for highly developed sports. Therefore,this section will focus on the feedback from athletes and sports institutions consulted to measure the reality. The results are nuanced due to the number of responses per country. Thus, this will be asimple, non-exhaustive indication based on the feedback.

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NATIONS & GOOD IMPLEMENTATIONS

The CBA for the French Women’s Handball League imposes in its specifications the integration of the first division conditions of technical and medical support to be respected. Indeed, the club must employ at least one full-time professional coach, atl least two or more administrative employees, and “put in place the medical logistics and facilities adapted to the exercise of this activity during training sessions and walks, and in compliance with legal provisions and federal requirements”. It is good to know that these measures will extend to the second division for the season 2023 – 2024.

CASE STUDIES

Grenoble's women's rugby club

In terms of both technical and medical support, it is a reality that sports institutions often lack the financial resources to employ professionals in these areas. Thus, a few clubs are mutualizing their technical and especially medical members. For instance, Grenoble’s women’s rugby club (FCG Amazones) supports male and female athletes equally by mutualizing the medical team across different structures.

Racing 92 rugby club

The Racing 92 rugby club implemented concrete measures in January 2023 by introducing gynecological monitoring for the women’s team, in addition to a physiotherapist, a sports doctor, and an osteopath. Each player will receive personalized support.