Daisie Mayes: Bristol Bears flanker on playing with endometriosis

The wellness tracker was introduced last season when the team moved to their new base at the high performance centre, and is led by the team’s head of athletic performance, Gareth Harris, who has studied the impact of menstrual cycles on athletic performance.

The forms are filled out weekly by the players and feature questions around their general wellness, but also their menstrual cycle, symptoms, severity and how they feel it impacts their training.

The club can then build a profile of each player and adapt their training based on the findings.

“The biggest two things I always encourage our players to do is to talk and to track,” Harris said.

“Talking gives us the ability to break down taboos and provide more support, and tracking gives us the real clear indicators of what they are experiencing – and then what symptoms we can help with and adjust our programmes to best support them.”

Mayes added: “That’s been a bit of game-changer for us, especially me.

“Not only is it helping me to train the best I can with this condition, but also knowing and having confidence in my coaches that I can talk to them about anything.”

Mayes said attitudes and understanding towards periods in sport were changing. However, she stressed that more research and investment was needed if the the women’s game is to progress.

“I think it’s very important that we do talk about this in women’s sport.

“It’s what makes it different to men’s sport and it doesn’t need to be a negative thing, if anything it is a different product and we need to change the game to meet that product.”