What is The Healthy Athlete Project?
The Healthy Athlete Project was founded as a result of my own personal and lived experiences of my health journey within sport. Upon the completion of my Master of Sport Science, it became clear to me that female athletes, coaches, whanau and support staff need exposure to education and resources around the menstrual cycle and the impact of hormones on female athletic health and performance.
The Healthy Athlete Project seeks to raise awareness of and provide education and dissemination of knowledge on female athlete health and gender-specific requirements in sport. I work as a consultant, providing education via presentations, workshops, and podcasts on female athlete health, as well as working as a Physiotherapist both clinically and within performance sport.
About me
I am a Physiotherapist with postgraduate qualifications in both Sports Medicine and Sport Science. I have a special interest in the female athlete, in particular, adolescents and young women in sports and active recreation.
I work at Performance Physio in Christchurch, and as a team physiotherapist with Mainland’s National Netball League and New Zealand Secondary Schools Netball teams.
As Director of The Healthy Athlete Project, I aim to raise awareness on female athletic health through education to schools, clubs, and sporting organisations at a regional and national level. My goal is to work with athletes, coaches, whānau, and support staff to improve and promote best-practice support for the female athlete.
My journey
I grew up playing a variety of sports, but through my teenage years, my main sport was netball and I am still very much involved in it. In 2014, I took up triathlon and went on to be a New Zealand age group representative. I enjoy the outdoors and endurance sports, so it was natural for me to pursue this sport.
It was only recently that I developed a keen interest in the developments in research of the female athlete. I returned to university in 2019 to complete my Master of Sport Science. My dissertation studies focused on what knowledge athletes had about the links between the menstrual cycle and health. This turned into a passion for education and awareness of what makes a healthy female athlete.