The brief for this project gave myself, and my fellow students, copious amounts of freedom as to what we could choose to produce. A 7 minute video documentary on pretty much any topic you like (within reason). So how did I come up with my idea? And more importantly, why?
A bit of background about me:
I've been an avid football fan and player since I was about seven. Football is one of my main passions in life, and I've enjoyed watching the women's game climb the ranks in the last decade. I have been lucky enough to play in, and captain the 1st team whilst I've been at Bournemouth University.
However in May 2019 I injured my knee in a game, quite badly to say the least. Fast forward 18 months and I still haven't set foot on the pitch again. I only found out in September this year that I had ruptured my Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL), and also torn my meniscus cartilage. I'm still on the waiting list for surgery, and I am doubtful I will be back to playing until 2022 at this rate, as recovery period post surgery is usually 9-12 months.
Why I chose my topic:
If you follow women's football, you'll be no stranger to the words 'ACL injury'. It's an extremely prolific injury, sadly even at the top flight of the women's game. In recent years the media has started asking questions as to why it seems to be such a problem for female players.
I started reading into this, and what I found out was pretty interesting. Scientific studies have suggested that a player's menstrual cycle can actually affect the ligaments in their knee. Meaning that at certain stages of your cycle, you're at more risk of suffering an injury such as an ACL tear.
This is something that still needs much more media attention, and is only making its way into narrow avenues of women's football at the moment. Women's Super League teams now track the cycles of their squad and adjust training accordingly. This is a baby step towards integrating the research currently out there into helping injury prevention.
I wanted to explore this area of research from a grassroots perspective. Not only because this is something that is alien to amateur players, but also because the impact of an ACL tear for a player in a non-elite environment is ten times more of a struggle in terms of recovery. I know the pain and frustration of being sidelined and having the uncertainty of when you'll ever return.
My journey in this documentary is to find out more about the research, and speak to players and coaches from different levels of the women's game. My main goals are to find out how credible the research is, whether it is being practiced in teams, and if it is something that can eventually be applied to all levels of women's football.
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