BURST2023 was a monumental year in women’s sports, between the highest-scoring NCAA women’s basketball championship of all time and a record-breaking attendance at the Women’s World Cup 2023. But 2024 has already blown last year out of the water: the WNBA had its biggest increase in viewership in 24 years, women won more than half of Team USA’s medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and interest in the National Women’s Soccer League jumped 17% from 2023 alone.
Yet with the growth in fandoms nd all the enthusiasm around women’s sports, a 2022 survey by the companies Puma and Modibodi states that as many as one in two young people are either skipping or quitting sports altogether because of an issue that primarily affects female athletes: period shame and inadequate menstrual products to manage their periods while playing. Yes, even in 2024, we still haven’t completely figured out how to hack a bodily process that’s been around for thousands of years.
But there’s still room for improvement in innovating products for menstruators in sports. It’s important for all different kinds of period products to be available to suit every menstruating person who plays sports, from menstrual cups to discs, pads, tampons, and athletic period clothing and underwear. Below, athletes and advocates weigh in on how better product innovation, reducing stigma, and increasing the ease of menstrual product accessibility could lead to more menstruators sticking with sports.
Anyone who’s gotten their period on the court can relate
Everyone who’s played sports and menstruates has a period-related story to tell. “What girl doesn’t have that story…of any time you’re on your period, having your teammates check to see if they can see anything, [especially since] we have white uniforms,” says Napheesa Collier, WNBA player on the Minnesota Lynx, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist, and new partner of Opill, the first daily over-the-counter birth control pill in the US. “And not only that, but it changes your body when you’re on your period. You might feel really bloated, heavy, and have mind fog,” she adds.
Megan Rapinoe, another Olympic Gold Medalist, retired two-time World Cup champion, and Knix partner echoes that same sentiment. “There have been countless times where I’ve scored game-changing goals and never mentioned that I was on my period,” she says. By the same token, she says she has also experienced the paranoia of leaks and the actual bleed-throughs; everyone in soccer and just about every other sport has too.
Amanda Calabrese, an avid surfer, a nine-time champion for the U.S. national team in the sport of lifesaving, and the COO and co-founder of athletic tampon brand Sequel, has a similar locker room panic moment. She got her first period during a swim meet and relied on her relay teammates to instruct her on how to put in a tampon, which was her only option at the time. Even then, she contemplated having someone else tag in for her so she wouldn’t let down the team by not swimming confidently.
Strong period protection is ingrained in her sports experience. A tournament for surf lifesaving often involves up to 10 hours on the beach, jumping in the water, running through sand, and then getting back in the water. Not to mention, the restrooms are all the way up at the top of the beach and a bathroom break at the wrong time could mean missing your race. “I have a very distinct memory, and I’ve been competing since eight years old, of getting my period every single year during the national championships,” Calabrese says. “I’d be thinking about my tampon staying in place or my cramps, and not about executing a race plan, which involves assessing the conditions of the oceans that day and getting back to shore as quickly as possible. When thinking about my period products not being reliable, I’m not focused on what I’ve been waiting all year to execute,” she adds.
Why (and how) athletes are speaking out about periods
Similar period-related experiences also trickle down, especially to non-pro athletes, as evidenced by the 2022 global survey by Puma x Modibodi. The survey found that teens feel embarrassed, uncomfortable, and anxious about leaks and therefore skip out on sports practices or leave a sport altogether. In fact, 3 in 10 young people who menstruate have also reported skipping school (and associated activities) because of period pain, while 1 in 5 young people report being unable to afford period products and missing out on activities because of the financial costs.
Students not participating in sports can also reflect a lack of body literacy, and the feeling that taking a break during a sports practice, game, or meet due to hormonal symptoms could be a sign of “weakness” or breaking a commitment, says Anne Hussain, ND, a hormonal health specialist and author of The Period Literacy Handbook. “This has created all sorts of barriers for menstruating athletes, especially younger ones who are going through very real bodily changes, in continuing their sport, asking for help, and feeling well,” says Dr. Hussain.
Any change about dealing with periods in sports has to come about through talking about them more often and in greater detail. There has been some important activism around this, notably the Knix Sport Your Period campaign featuring Megan Rapinoe. Knix paid national or international athletes over 18 years old to talk about taboos related to their period in playing their sport. “The alarming statistic that 1 in 2 teens drop out of sports because of their period was a driving force behind the campaign,” says Joanna Griffiths, founder and president of intimates and period underwear company Knix.
Athlete and advocate Rapinoe has been open with her partner and former pro basketball player Sue Bird, teammates, and the world about dealing with periods while being a high-level athlete. “Periods are as normal as any bodily function, so we have of course discussed with each other ways to destigmatize talking about periods and also what products are the most helpful,” Rapinoe says. She also emphasizes how important it is to include nonbinary or trans people in these discussions, as they’re often being left out of the larger period conversation. “There are some people who may ‘look’ like they aren’t having a period, but they are. I believe we are all deeply intertwined, and we all need to better understand where to meet people and how we can tailor the education around periods for all,” adds Rapinoe.
Another way to create more visibility around people playing sports on their periods is sponsorships—a new frontier, especially for National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) athletes. Tampon brand Sequel just announced its new history-making sponsorship of NCAA Stanford Athletics, which became the first NCAA program to have a tampon sponsorship. Calabrese and her co-founder, CEO Greta Meyer, have already been sponsoring fellow Stanford alumna Charlie Ekstrom, who has now gone pro in beach volleyball and wears “Sequel” on her bikini top and bottoms. “Charlie has us tagged in her bio with the other sponsors,” says Calabrese. That’s how we destigmatize it. That’s a product that athletes need every month. Why wouldn’t an athlete want that sponsorship, and why wouldn’t we want to work with some of the best athletes in the world?” she adds.
Being more open about the very natural processes athletes with uteruses go through can open the door to discussion and prioritizing other important reproductive health topics in women’s sports. Collier, who has a two-year-old daughter, points out that becoming a parent (whether you’re carrying a pregnancy or not) may mean taking time off from your sport. Other parents may need to also breastfeed during the season. It’s equally important to make sure students and athletes have equitable access to birth control if they don’t want to be parents—which is why Collier is traveling across the country with Opill to speak to students on college campuses about their reproductive health options.
While athletes and advocates are expanding the conversation around periods, healthcare providers can also play a key role in supporting athletes’ menstrual health and the openness around it. The menstrual cycle can be affected by how much you’re training and can affect your sleep, stress levels, energy levels, mental health, and nutrition, according to Dr. Hussain. That’s why she recommends athletes track their cycles and for their providers and athletic trainers to also keep tabs on any concerns about their menstrual health and athletic performance. “This way we can screen for common concerns in athletic menstruators, like period cramps, heavy bleeding, irregular cycles, skipped periods, iron deficiency, changes in eating, etc. We can treat, coach, and refer accordingly,” Dr. Hussain explains.
What changes need to be made for period products to better suit athletes?
There have been some wins toward better period-proof attire for athletes, such as the Adidas Period Proof workout collection and Wimbledon allowing darker shorts for athletes as of 2023. The team at Sequel, headed up by Stanford mechanical engineering graduates Calabrese and Meyer, has prioritized athletes in re-engineering the tampon to have a spiral, helix-shaped design (to prevent leakage and funnel any potential leaks toward the core of the tampon instead of downward) into your sports uniform. Innovation in the tampon space can be extra challenging, especially because they are Class II medical devices and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), explains Calabrese. But once Sequel got its FDA clearance, it had much more flexibility to get out on the market and also partner with athletes to spread their products and message.
Fellow newcomer to the period space Egal, the company that created Pads on a Roll, a dispenser filled with a toilet paper-like roll of disposable menstrual pads found in restrooms, has also been slowly moving into the sports world. Egal’s Pads on a Roll CEO Penelope Finnie shares that schools are putting the dispensers in their gymnasiums, sports fields are adding them in restrooms, and the London Marathon will be placing the dispensers in portable restrooms along the marathon route. These dispensers can also be found for sports fans who suddenly get their period in the restrooms at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, home of the Philadelphia Flyers and Philadelphia 76ers. This coincides with the current trend of stadiums only allowing small or clear bags and being cashless, which doesn’t fare well with a tampon dispenser. For athletes and fans who prefer tampons, Egal is currently in the process of partnering with tampon companies to attach a holster for tampons to the pad dispenser.
Egal’s rise to success is thanks to its innovation in providing menstrual products where there’s a lack of them and laws that combat period poverty—a huge deterrent to school and sports practice attendance. “30 states do have requirements for free period products in schools; that’s why we’re getting into the gymnasiums,” says Finnie. “This is essential—periods are an essential bodily function and products should be provided for free with toilet paper,” she adds.
Athletes should also be the ones driving the conversation about the period products that they need. “We’ve heard directly from athletes that they need to be comfortable and reliable, while also being lightweight, flexible, and designed to move with the body,” says Griffiths. Leak-proof underwear, activewear, and swimwear is a start on Knix’s part—and Rapinoe argues that should be the standard. But what about athletic-specific menstrual cups and discs? Collier admits that she rarely sees these available at a pharmacy at all. Every menstrual product brand should be thinking about serving all different types of people who menstruate, including people who live an especially active lifestyle, people with disabilities, and so many other needs of menstruators.
Apart from meeting people’s basic human rights with appropriate menstrual products (just like having garbage cans and baby changing stations placed in restrooms), there needs to be more access to education about menstruation in schools and sports programs to improve body literacy, says Ashanda Saint Jean, MD, board-certified OB/GYN, Opill partner, and devoted WNBA fan. Athletes should understand that if they have painful or heavy periods, some contraceptive options can prevent them from menstruating regularly or having a very light period, which is completely healthy, according to Dr. Saint Jean. Likewise, if you’re not having a regular cycle while playing sports, this is something you should bring to your healthcare provider’s attention. Having that knowledge helps with the agency of being able to choose the right products for your body.
The bottom line
Ultimately, women’s sports are not only full-time careers for professional female athletes but also growth opportunities for young and up-and-coming athletes. “We know that there’s a robust amount of skill sets that women can learn from participating in sports: leadership, being a team member, and developing a work ethic,” says Dr. Saint Jean. Young people should not be missing out on those opportunities because of their menstrual cycles, period.