Author(s): DOYLE-BAKER, P., SOUSTER, M., Institution: UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY, Country: CANADA, Abstract-ID: 1576

INTRODUCTION:
Few studies focus on collegiate athletes self-awareness and self-regulation of the menstrual cycle, despite this being an opportune time as they transition to high performance in their athletic career (Tremback-Ball et al. 2021). Online post-event reflection tool (PERT) is known to systematically help athletes process their performance during training and competition (Chow et al. 2019). Previous research has observed that performance is most often affected during early follicular and late luteal phases compared to the rest of the menstrual cycle (Armour et al. 2020). Therefore, the study purpose was to evaluate athletes’ acknowledgement of their performance readiness by engaging in the PERT during their menstrual cycle.
METHODS:
Seventeen self-identified female athletes (16-23 yrs.) were recruited from university social media sites across seven teams from a variety of sports. Eight athletes acknowledged the use of hormonal contraceptives (IUD, intravaginal ring, oral). The survey included the PERT (Chow et al., 2019) and five additional questions on MC symptoms and management. The repetitive nature of the PERT was meant to simulate a journal type intervention to prompt continual engagement from the athletes. The questionnaire was administered on the Qualtrics platform (https://www.qualtrics.com/) and involved two weekly reflections on their performances (practice and competition) over 8-10 weeks. Thematic analysis was performed using NVivo 14 to find and recognize core themes through open coding.
RESULTS:
Four broad themes were identified: (1) impact of menstrual symptoms, (2) personalized coping strategies, (3) readiness changes during performances, and (4) a wavering mindset. Not all athletes reflected twice a week but the majority did. Athletes predominantly identified symptoms during menses (bleeding) only rather than during other phases of the menstrual cycle.
CONCLUSION:
Many athletes shared personal insights on the impact the menstrual cycle had on training. The PERT also increased athletes’ self-awareness in recognizing cycle trends and assited with mindfulness in identifying strategies for future performance. Some athletes felt they paid too much attention to symptoms and therefore their self-talk resulted in distracting them from their performance. Like others have found, this study observed that the online PERT can promote self-awareness and reflection (Brunner et al., 2023) in a wide range of sports with female athletes. Future research, however, should ensure the athletes’ menstrual cycle knowledge is at a level that they can reflect on where in the phases of the cycle their performance readiness is impacted the most.