Female Sports Science newsletter – January 27, 2019

Female Sports Science news articles, blog posts and research papers for January 27, 2019

 

athletes


Australian Open charge of Ashleigh Barty built on WBBL stint, break from tennis

ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), Luke Pentony from

As Ashleigh Barty reflected on her breakout performance at a major, reaching the Australian Open quarter-finals, she was quick to recall a time when her career was at the crossroads.

After stunning results in the juniors, which included winning the Wimbledon girls title as a 15-year-old in 2011, Barty found herself struggling with the pressure of expectation and the rigours of tour life as a professional.

Her ranking was languishing in the 200s when she decided to take an indefinite break from tennis in late 2014 and she used some of the time away from the game to follow another sporting interest, playing cricket for Brisbane Heat in the Women’s Big Bash League.

 

How Naomi Osaka grew up before our very eyes

ESPN Tennis, Soraya Nadia McDonald from

… “We’re used to seeing players go away after losing such a big lead,” explained Courtney Nguyen, a senior writer for WTA Insider who has been covering tennis for more than a decade. “Especially against Petra. Petra has these comebacks in the second set and then the third set is like, 6-0 or 6-1. She just runs away with it because you’re so demoralized.”

Osaka, on the other hand, is unique in her ability to rally herself after disappointments. And disappointed she was — she went into the locker room crying after losing the second set.

 

Purdue senior Nora Kiesler sets basketball aside for long-term future

Lafayette Journal & Courier, Mike Carmin from

… The senior on the Purdue women’s basketball team was in the locker room, listening to the music, reviewing the scouting report and would later walk – not run – down the tunnel and watch her teammates go through warmups to prepare for the first game.

This was all new to Kiesler. The same for her teammates and her family. The decision to end her basketball career – a sport she’s played since the age of 3, which is embedded in the family’s fabric – brought numerous emotions to the surface during this time. There was no turning back.

Last season, Kiesler didn’t play in the Boilermakers’ exhibition game but knew she would return at some point during the season. She did. There would be no returning this year.

 

Molly Huddle Will Chase PR at the 2019 London Marathon

Runner's World, Erin Strout from

… Huddle realizes that in flat, fast London, the competition can get a little crazy—Keitany hit the halfway point during her 2017 record-setting run in 1:06:54. And while Huddle, who holds the half marathon American record of 1:07:25, has no plans to start at such an outrageous pace, she does plan to race her fourth marathon at the potential she says she began realizing last spring.

“There definitely is a comfort level the more of these you do,” Huddle said. “You question yourself less. I’m getting a little braver and doing less calculating about how much farther I have to run.”

 

Cat Osterman: She’s baaaaaaack

Texas State University, The University Star student newspaper, Andrew Zimmel from

Texas State’s assistant softball coach Cat Osterman is gearing up for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games after making the women’s national team this month.

In a 2015 Sports Illustrated interview after her last game in the National Pro Fastpitch league for the USSSA Pride, Osterman said that winning the 2004 gold medal in Athens was the pinnacle of her career.

Fifteen years later, Osterman has a chance to make it back to the mountain top.

 

CWHL stars eye making women’s hockey more than just a game

The Globe and Mail, The Canadian Press, Joshua Clipperton from

Natalie Spooner dreams of a day when women’s professional hockey players won’t have to rush home from work to make it to practice.

Hilary Knight hopes the narrative of the sport’s gender inequality eventually fades so she’s only asked questions about wins and loses, successes and failures.

Spooner and Knight were among the 34 players on the ice for the Canadian Women’s Hockey League all-star game Sunday afternoon at Scotiabank Arena, but the bigger issues facing the sport – especially at club level – weren’t far from their minds.

 

With eye on Women’s World Cup, Tierna Davidson leaves Stanford

espnW, Graham Hays from

… So rapid was her ascent as one of the best young defenders in her sport that, like Tiger Woods and Katie Ledecky before her at Stanford, Davidson outpaced what even that school could offer. Rather than return to campus this spring and for her senior season in the fall, Davidson entered the NWSL draft and was selected first overall last Thursday by the Chicago Red Stars.

She entered the draft not because she needs to know if she is good enough to play at the next level. But because she needs to be ready to play at the highest level in June.

“I would say the biggest factor was putting me in the best position to develop as a soccer player in these coming months before the World Cup,” Davidson, 20, said shortly after the draft of her decision to forgo her remaining NCAA eligibility. “And then beyond, looking at the very busy U.S. women’s national team schedule between now and the end of 2020 [and the Olympics].

 

training


Lesko’s New Strength Training Routine

Oiselle Running Apparel for Women, Sarah Lesko from

It’s no secret my first marathon last October, Marine Corps, did a number on me…and my right foot…and my right hamstring…and my left knee. [But I don’t regret anything haha!] I didn’t start trying to run until early December, and I didn’t have a pain-free run until Dec. 27th. As I was trying to recover, I had a desire to work on my strength in a new way. The Dozen is awesome, but I wanted to work some heavier lifting into my routine and didn’t know how to go about it (I’ve always felt a little uncertain on my squat and deadlift form). I’d noticed local PT Ellie Somers and her informative Insta posts, so we met for a walk/run to chat about ideas. She had a lot of them! We spent some time at the gym and she set up a 4-wk base strength training program for me as I get back to running (she’s going to modify it over time as my running ramps up). I just finished the 3rdweek, and I definitely feel stronger and just generally more robust. I had quite a few noodle moments the first week, but the gains come quickly. Although this routine (the first week is below) was written just for me (and you should check with your own coach/PT/provider before you start something new), I think it is a great general approach to adding strength for runners. Plus, Ellie linked a video for each exercise…which is great because I’m the queen of nodding “yes, I get it” and then forgetting how to pick up the kettlebell when I’m in the gym. Hit me or Ellie up with questions, but feel free to add some of these to your routine! Best part: 25 mins in the gym (or at home) 3x/week is totally doable. Old bird, new tricks!

 

NC COURAGE’S PAUL RILEY ON THE DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY VS HIGH SCHOOL

SoccerToday, Diane Scavuzzo from

… The best competitive environment is where we will grow better players.

I think the DA needs to let the clubs periodize their players with high school being part of that periodization. Maybe it’s no high school training on Saturdays and Mondays during the 7 week High School soccer season and players cannot play three High School games per week.

I think we have enough time before High School starts in New York to play 4-6 games —which allows DA to maintain the most important element of four practices to one game once the High School season finishes.

The 7 week High School season is not the reason our youth national teams aren’t as good as we want or expect. So, in my opinion, let’s use the tool as a positive way to improve players.

 

France prepares for Women’s World Cup, on and off the field

The Washington Post, Steven Goff from

… The United States, both agreed, has set the standard for supporting women’s soccer. By hosting a World Cup, they added, France will begin to catch up.

Georges said, “When I came to the U.S.” as a player at Boston College, “young kids were looking at the players, like Kristine Lilly, like they were superstars. That was 20 years ago. It was already in the mentality of the culture. A woman player was a role model. Now, looking at the picture in France, the players are role models for the kids.”

Reflecting on her own experiences visiting the United States as a French national team player, Henriques said she used to think, “Maybe one day in France it could be like this.” Then, she added, “and now it is.”

 

Amelie Mauresmo showing the tennis world a woman can coach the men

espnW, Simon Cambers from

Shortly after his win over Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open on Tuesday, Lucas Pouille couldn’t help but talk about his coach: Amelie Mauresmo, whom Pouille hired in December.

“I think she’s bringing a lot of confidence to my game, to my personality, to my state of mind,” he said afterward. “The goal is not to reach the final or the semifinal, but to improve my tennis, to put what I work on during the practice in the match. That gives me less pressure. I’m just trying to focus on my game, not on the consequences and the results.”

 

technology


Girl Scouts of America offers badge in cyber-security

BBC News, Cody Melissa Godwin from

Girl Scouts of America is now offering girls as young as five a badge in cyber-security.

It’s part of a drive to get more girls involved in science, technology engineering and mathematics from a young age.

 

Women In Sports Tech 2019 Summer Fellowship

Women in Sports Tech from

“WiST supports university students eager to begin their careers in the sports tech industry. We define the sports tech industry broadly and encourage proposals that combine the themes of sports and technology creatively. Fellowships are an integral part of how we propel women into important roles and leadership positions in our industry.” Deadline to apply is March 17.

 

sports medicine


Criteria for return to running after ACL reconstruction

Anatomy Physiotherapy, Jonathan Ko from

Return to running (RTR) is considered to be an important point in rehabilitation post ACL reconstruction, as it marks the transition from ‘impairment-focused’ to ‘functional’ or ‘activity-specific’ rehabilitation.

Conventionally, clinical decision making for RTR has been time-based (i.e., 8-16 weeks post-operatively). In more recent times, there have been increased sightings of assessment-based progression of rehabilitation.

The purpose of this review was to look for the criteria used to progress to RTR after ACL reconstruction and to identify any changes in trend of the criteria over time.

 

The way you move post-surgery is connected to long-term success of ACL reconstruction

Brigham Young University, BYU News from

A third of people who undergo ACL reconstruction surgery will have osteoarthritis in their injured knee within 10 years. Within two decades, nearly 50 percent will — terrible odds for getting a debilitating condition with no known cure.

While no one yet knows exactly why this is the case, researchers have explored two related theories:

  • The knee injury itself may cause persistent and chronic inflammation resulting in underlying joint tissue changes.
  • People who sustain an ACL injury end up moving differently during activities like running, jumping and walking, which causes damage to cartilage over time.
  •  

    New Findings Could Help Explain Why ADHD Is Often Overlooked In Girls

    The British Psychological Society, Research Digest, Emma Young from

    For every girl with ADHD, there are three boys with the same diagnosis. But among adults, the gender ratio is more like 1:1. That’s a big discrepancy. So what’s going on?

    In 2017, Aja Louise Murray and colleagues investigated possible predictors of childhood vs. later (adolescent/adult-onset) ADHD, and they found hints that girls tend to develop ADHD at a later age than boys. Now a team that includes the same researchers has investigated this explicitly and in their paper in Developmental Science, they’ve confirmed it seems to be the case, which could partially explain the discrepancy in the ADHD gender ratio between children and adults.

     

    analysis


    Women won’t ask a man for more pay – but they will ask a woman

    Aeon Ideas, Iñigo Hernandez-Arenaz and Nagore Iriberri from

    … With high-paying, high-skill jobs in particular, which demand highly qualified staff, a substantial amount of the salary is the result of one-on-one negotiations with the firm’s representative. Interestingly, the data show that the gender pay gap is higher in these high-skilled positions. It is also worth mentioning that negotiations are not a one-off experience, but rather present throughout a professional’s life, in the form of pay increases, bonuses and promotions. So, if highly skilled men and women negotiate differently and reach different outcomes, this would explain part of the gender gap that we still cannot account for. This explanation is supported by the economist Linda Babcock and her co-author Sara Laschever in their book Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide (2009). The authors show that among graduates of Carnegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania, 57 per cent of men negotiated their starting salary, while only 8 per cent of women did so. Such a disparity would certainly contribute to a gender pay gap among this otherwise identical population. But there is more to the story.

     

    Most successful women surround themselves with other women

    Northwestern University, Northwestern Now from

    Study finds female-dominated inner circles are key to women gaining leadership roles

     

    What The Latest Marathon Study Shows About Women Participation

    Women's Running from

    New research by RunnerClick shows the fastest age groups, nations with the strongest participation, where the most popular races are located and more. … On average, 45.7 percent of American marathon participants are women, the highest proportion across all countries assessed for this study. Canadian women are second at 40.73 percent.

     

    fairness


    Experiences as a female Data Scientist

    Data Science Central, Cheuk Ting Ho from

    … Some stakeholders in the industry will doubt your ability because you are not their ideal “typical” data scientist. You have to fight to gain their trust and see beyond your look. In my previous job, I was introduced to a stakeholder for a project. It’s very obvious that he doubted my ability as I am a woman. I feel that it’s a struggle that all women in the industry have and I will not be shy to stand up and speak for myself. I decided to told him that I just came back from a major Python conference which I was speaking at. I impressed him even though he found it hard to believe initially!

     

    Also. To many this step for us is a step they prob don’t understand. But for us – a long 12 years of fighting & we finally have our names on our shirt. From now on – that’s all players will remember.

    Twitter, Jessica Fishlock from

     

    MacKenzie Bezos and the Myth of the Lone Genius Founder

    WIRED, Business, Louise Matsakis from

    … “Both historically and today, it takes a lot more ‘proof’ for a woman to claim competence, importance, and intelligence—something we see powerfully played out on the national political stage every day, from Hillary Clinton to Alexandria Ocasio Cortez,” says Marie Hicks, a technology historian and the author of Programmed Inequality: How Britain Discarded Women Technologists and Lost Its Edge In Computing. “It seeps into how we talk about women associated with tech on an everyday basis, whether it’s at work, at school, online, or in the media.”

    Empires like Amazon and Apple are not created by a single man in a vacuum; they are the product of a mix of luck and contributions from an entire team—including from a founder’s spouse.

     

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