The Women in Sport & Exercise Academic Network Podcast Jacky Forsyth

Emma completed her BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy from Trinity College Dublin. She completed rotations in Geriatrics, General Medicine, Neurology and Sports Medicine at Changi General Hospital in Singapore before travelling to the US, where she was the physiotherapist for the 3,000-mile bicycle race ‘Race Across America’ in 2015 and 2016. She then moved to Switzerland where she worked in musculoskeletal private practice with skiers in Verbier.

Emma moved to New Zealand in 2017, and currently works as a Health Partner with ACC and as a Musculoskeletal
Medicine Lecturer at The University of Otago, Wellington. She is also completing a PhD on the impact of a female-specific anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction rehabilitation programme. Emma is strongly interested in including female participants in her research and investigating female-specific prevention, causation and management of common musculoskeletal conditions.

When Emma is not working, she is usually running, biking or tramping in New Zealand’s
backcountry. 

Twitter:
@femaleathletept



Topics discussed:


Overview of career journey to date and advice for others who
would like to work and live in NZ, plus PhD progress to date.


Main multi-centre RCT from PhD: Explain the intervention,
follicular-phase based vs. luteal-based training. Trends observed to date.
Scoping review purpose and findings regarding phase-based
resistance training. Mechanisms to support adaptation.
Qualitative study with health and medical practitioners on
their knowledge, perceptions of and comfort in discussing the menstrual cycle. Study
overview and findings. Practical recommendations, based on this study, for the
medical professions.
Career plans post-PhD/dream job.
Personal experiences on using menstrual cycle phased training/injury
avoidance.

About Dr Hanya Pielichaty and Critical Pedagogies in Sport

When I retired from playing football in 2015, I had clocked up three decades of unwavering dedication to the sport. My experience of, and within, football shaped my childhood and adulthood in many personal and professional ways. My memories of football include wearing oversized shirts designed for the male form, playing on undulating pitches, paying my subs and of overwhelming joy. The joy football brings cannot be under-estimated; it stirs the grey matter in the brain, facilitates the smell of Sunday afternoon shin pads and most importantly brings you a sense of community that you didn’t know could exist. The backdrop to this joy was a relentless need to prove myself on and off the pitch, and not always related to performance, but to be able to sustain your presence in a male dominated and guarded space. This is discussed at length in my book where I interweave my own memories of playing into a broader study alongside other
players’ experiences.

My lived experiences of sport have shaped my professional and epistemological views of the world. My teaching covers modules relating to sport and society,
and I also lead institutional equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) projects. A current study I am conducting explores the sense of belonging of students on male, white dominated degree programmes, such as Sports Business Management. I have found that my male dominated teaching spaces are reflective of my previous experiences in football. My feminist standpoint and approach to inclusive education must and does influence my teaching and learning practices. It is these experiences which led me to the creation of the Critical Pedagogies in Sport (CPIS) international network. The overall purpose of CPIS is to facilitate, support and share valuable practice relating to teaching and learning. It is hoped this will be achieved by interrogating what, why and how we teach in relation to
inclusive education in sport. CPIS will be able to re/view, challenge, and address inequities in relation to teaching and learning which impact student experience. The aims of CPIS are as follows:


To provide a space for academics to share, discuss, collaborate, and challenge the way in which T&L is framed, delivered, and understood within Higher Education.
To host and facilitate network opportunities for critical pedagogical scholars to collaborate, innovate and create impact in teaching and learning practices.
To bring together evidence-based research on critical pedagogies in sport to inform and transform T&L in sports Higher Education.

Earlier this year (2023), I invited academics from across four institutions to join me in leading CPIS, they are: Professor Philippa Velija and Dr Catherine Phipps (both from Solent University), Dr Nik Dickerson (Loughborough University), Professor Chris Headleand (Staffordshire University) and Professor Belinda Colston (Eleanor Glanville Institute). Our own research which inspired us to develop this network includes work on the impact of gender regimes on students’ experiences and in relation to gender justice. The network is in its infancy but has already received overwhelmingly positive responses since its launch at the end of October 2022. The network currently has over 35 members, spanning 14 countries and is growing all the time.

Academics who currently (or aspire to) teach across degrees such as sports business management, esports, sports and coaching, physical education, sport and
exercise science, sports psychology, and sports technology, amongst others, will find this network valuable. We hope to put on collaborative events soon and undertake various writing projects. If you would like to learn more about CPIS and/or join the network, please do get in touch with me via email hpielichaty@lincoln.ac.uk and follow on Twitter @ CritPedSports.

Professor Győző Molnár joined the University of Worcester in September 2008. Győző is a critical sociologist with a research focus on identity politics, political populism, gender and empowering marginalised populations. His current research has focused on the migratory and gendered aspects of Fiji rugby, challenging dominant perspectives in Adapted Physical Activity research and unfolding connections between sport and populist politics in Hungary. He is co-editor of The Politics of The Olympics (2010, Routledge), Ethnographies in Sport and Exercise Research (2016, Routledge), Women, Sport and Exercise in the Asia-Pacific Region: Domination-Resistance-Accommodation (2018, Routledge), The Routledge Handbook of Gender Politics in Sport and Physical Activity (2022, Routledge), Encyclopaedia of Politics of Sport(Forthcoming, Elgar) and co-writer of Sport, Exercise and Social Theory: An Introduction (2012, Routledge).

In this episode, we talk about the Handbook of Gender Politics in Sport and Physical Activity, that he edited with Rachael Bullingham, his insights from his research with the Fijian women rugby players, his international collaborations and his future research directions.

Themes/topics

· The Handbook of Gender Politics in Sport and Physical Activity: Overview of content

· Contributing chapters and how connections between politics, gender and sport are made more explicit. How to untangle politics from socio-cultural, environmental influences

· Research with the Fijian women rugby players (finding motivation in a hostile environment): key findings

· The importance of and advice on expressing positionality and negotiating power relationships in ethnographical research

· Collaborating with others: Tips, advice, approach

· Research needs in the area

· Future projects

Gráinne Donnelly is an Advanced Physiotherapy Practitioner and clinical researcher from N. Ireland in the UK. She is incoming co-editor for the journal of Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy and will sit on the Board of Trustees for the Pelvic Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy Association. She is on the specialist advisory board for the Active Pregnancy Foundation and is an associate member of the Perinatal Physical Activity Research Group at Canterbury Christ Church University. After 13 years in the NHS, she left the position as Team Lead for the pelvic health service to pursue private practice and research. She has published several peer-reviewed publications on return to physical activity postpartum and on diastasis rectus abdominis. She educates physiotherapists internationally and is currently pursuing a PhD. She also co-hosts a podcast called At Your Cervix, which aims to improve evidence-based information dissemination within the general public.

In this episode, I talk to Gráinne about some of her research papers in this area, her research and infographic on return to running postpartum, and her PhD, looking at the effect of compression garments on the pelvic floor. Gráinne also talks about her other projects, in which she is involved. Main topics we cover include:


Research/paper on biopsychosocial factors contributing to return to running and running-related stress urinary incontinence in postpartum women. Summary of this research.
Paper on how advice and guidance affects running habits. Summary of findings.
Guidelines/infographic. How previous research (discussed) informed the graphic.
Systematic review on self-reported symptoms in women with diastasis rectus abdominis. Main findings/interpretation.
PhD work, investigating the compression garments to target the pelvic floor. 
Role as co-editor for the journal of Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy. Within sport and exercise, typical papers that this journal accepts.
Other activities, e.g., Active Pregnancy Foundation and Perinatal PA Research Group – how these came about. How others can get involved.

Emma Brockwell is a Specialist Pelvic Health Physiotherapist. She treats women of all ages with all women’s health-related conditions. She is passionate about pre and postnatal rehabilitation and exercise. She specialises in supporting women back to exercise, particularly running and netball if they have any pelvic health dysfunction or are postnatal. She has co-authored the first ‘Returning to Running Postnatal Guidelines’ and has spoken about this subject at many medical and exercise conferences. Over the past two years she has co-authored further publications on this subject. Emma has written for many magazines including Women’s Running and Women’s Health magazine and last year her first book called ‘Why did no one tell me? How to protect, heal and nurture your body through motherhood' was published.

Emma founded and leads a Walk and Running club, Oxted Ladies Run Club. She is on the advisory board for The Active Pregnancy Foundation and is an associate member of the Perinatal Physical Activity Research Group. She now works privately in Guildford and Godstone and is the co-presenter of the podcast, At Your Cervix – the podcast. Alongside Grainne Donnelly and Helen McElroy, she co-founded the Athletic Female an evidence-based course aimed at healthcare, fitness and medical professionals who work with female athletes.

You can follow her on Instagram @physiomumuk and find out all the links to the above on www.physiomum.co.uk

In this podcast, I talk with Emma about the key pieces of advice from the ‘Returning to Running Postnatal Guidelines’. We talk about her other work and how she has managed to create an impact. Emma also gives her thoughts on what the gaps in the research are and her future research-related projects.

Themes discussed:


Conditions typically treat among athletes, as a Specialist Pelvic Health Physiotherapist
The 'Return to Running Postnatal Guidelines': key advice from these recommendations
Strongest research evidence supporting pelvic floor recovery
Other activities (such as the ‘At Your Cervix’ podcast, recent book and the Athletic Female course) and how these have created an impact
Athletes' response and challenges encountered
Improving pelvic floor - is it too late?
Research ideas for the future
Future projects

Dr Natalie Brown is a research associate based at Swansea University and Sport Wales, working with the Welsh Institute of Performance Science. Her specialist area is the menstrual cycle and sport, supporting all levels of performance, whether that is the Olympic Games or helping women and girls have an active lifestyle. Both her research and applied work focusses on understanding the menstrual cycle, increasing awareness and understanding, and promoting a proactive approach to menstrual-related symptoms and management.

In this podcast, I chat with Dr Natalie Brown, who is a research associate based at Swansea University working with the Welsh Institute of Performance Science. Natalie’s specialist area is the menstrual cycle and sport, so we talk about her work on teachers’ perceptions and experiences of menstrual cycle education in UK schools, and the resources she has created for UK Sport on the menstrual cycle. Natalie also talks about the research she is involved in on concussion in rugby, her next research projects and her career advice.