Ms Mya Doocey:

Our names are Mya and Mia. We are from Navan, County Meath, and attend St. Joseph’s Mercy Secondary School. As part of transition year, TY, we took part in the BT Young Scientist and Technology competition with our project called “P.E riod” to investigate the effect that periods have on physical activity. Every woman when she reaches puberty will begin her menstrual cycle. This is on average a 28-day cycle. This will continue for most females for the next 35-plus years until they reach menopause.

In our study, we looked at this issue from two perspectives: first, the physical effect that periods have on our sporting performance and, second, through a survey, the impact it has mentally on sporting participation and performance. Our study found that, physically, our menstrual cycle has different effects on performance depending on what part of the cycle you are on. For example, on days one to five, when the lining of the womb is being shed from the body, sprint performance was completed at the students' best and 44% achieved their personal best during this stage of their cycle. During days 11 to 15, when ovulation occurs, meaning the egg is released from the ovary, endurance and strength tests were performed at the students’ best.

Why are there differences? This is down to the different hormones that surge through a woman’s body over the 28 days. In days one to five, there are low levels of progesterone and high levels of follicle-stimulating hormone, FSH. However, by days 11 to 15, there is a peak in luteinizing hormone, LH, and progesterone begins to increase. These hormonal changes affect our physical performances. Some 19% of the students who took part in the physical testing said they would not have participated on days one to five, with this figure dropping by 5% after we spoke to the group and educated them on the importance of exercise during our cycle. These results show that the hormonal changes in a female’s body affect our performances.

Second, we did two large online surveys. The first was distributed to students in our school and the second was sent to those who participate in competitive sport. One of the findings from students was that when a female starts her period, roughly in first or second year, 48% will not carry out PE in school that week due to that very reason. In our second survey, we received 211 responses from across 24 sports, ranging from modern pentathlon to gymnastics. Some of the key findings were as follows. Over 50% of the athletes said they had chosen not to complete their training before for reasons related to their period, over 30% of athletes take painkillers such as paracetamol to cope with training and competing on their period, and 27% of athletes said their period affects their training during every cycle.

As our results show, women in sport face challenges men do not face due to our period. Coaches need to be aware that a female performance on one particular day may not be easily replicated a week later due to her menstrual cycle. All women should not be so hard on themselves, and here we can see the professional athletes who also struggle with cramps and general unease during their period.

Through our study, our main recommendations are that, first, coaches, management teams and PE teachers are taught to understand the complexity of the menstrual cycle and, second, the menstrual cycle should be more openly discussed in public. It is of note that more than 80% of responses from students said they would not discuss their cycle with a coach.

We thank Ms Leavy, our science teacher, for her help over the year, the Olympic Federation of Ireland for sharing our survey, all of those who partook in our surveys, from students to Olympic athletes and, finally, Senator Shane Cassells for the invitation to speak to the committee today.