Millfield champions girls' needs in sport in new pilot programme

Millfield School is championing an initiative to better support the needs of girls in sport by piloting a programme with a leading women’s health organisation.

The aim is to remove taboos around girls’ needs in sport that can hamper or even block their progress, such as puberty and menstruation, in a partnership with The Well HQ who have previously worked with the LTA, England Netball and the Rugby Football Union.

It comes at a time when the country is celebrating women in sport after the Lionesses won the European Football Championship in July, ending the 56 year wait for England to win a major football title.

Millfields reputation as a sporting powerhouse means it has over 500 females participating across all 28 sports on offer at the school and is perfecty placed to run the pilot to support students and all coaching staff.

Founded by three women, a coach, a GP and a scientist, The Well HQ have built a business and a movement based on rewriting the norms and best-practise for females in health, sport and life. There message of change has taken root in schools and universities, elite sporting institutions and in the corporate world.

Since the launch of the programme in September, there has been further developments such as,

• Student and staff talks on the menstrual cycle and how this effects girls sporting experience and development.
• Education on nutrition and RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiancy in Sport) an energy deficiency as a result of burning more calories than consumed.
• Millfield sports coaches have been educated on how to best support girls during training and from a pastoral perspective.
• Educated on the importance of Sports Bras for breast health and sports performance. The school also welcomed Specialist Bra fitters to give advice and offer scheduled individual fittings for the students and staff.

After Easter, the programme will be reviewed with The Well HQ, in which the sport department will be able to share and discuss the actions they have put in place already and potential developments for the programme to further support the female sporting students and staff.

Millfield Upper Sixth student Catrin Thomas who went to the launch evening for the new pilot programme, Catrin said: “I’m really excited to learn more about this programme as I think it is essential for girls to understand and celebrate their place in sport. I particularly enjoyed learning about the importance of wearing the correct sports bra and the future support we will be given when experiencing our menstrual cycle.” 

The programmes pioneer is Football coach and Learning Support teacher, Simon Coombes. He previously worked as Head of PE and Games schools specialising in dyslexia and AEN (Additional Educational Needs) before joining Millfield. Simon has adopted a child centred approach in coaching girls sport and supporting students in and out of the classroom for a number of years and will use his own experiences alongside the expertise of The Well HQ to produce a legacy for the school.

His goal for the programme is for students, coaches, staff and parents to gain a greater understanding of women and girls in sport, and learn the practical ways by which anyone can support girls to be happy, well-rounded and confident sports people.

Simon said: “In society and schools, sport is still male-orientated and girls in the game are expected to fit into the training schedules and expectations of their male counterparts. This programme will put the girls and their needs at the forefront, giving them greater comfort and confidence whilst opening up essential communication lines.”

Football will be the pilot sport for the programme after which coaching styles, advice and expertise will be shared across all departments in the school. Focus groups of students from various sports, houseparents, heads of sports and coaches will feedback on progress, with the aim of embedding the ethos fully.

Simon said, “It is perfect timing to introduce this programme after the England women’s team became European Football Champions. Their resilience, determination and confidence in themselves and their sport is an inspiration to all female athletes.

“Although we are starting in sport, I envisage this branching out into coaching advice and support for AEN students, dyslexic students and using my knowledge as a learning support teacher to aid understanding and educate others.”

Baz Moffat, former Team GB rower and co-founder of The Well HQ said, “The status quo for women in sport needs to change, and to see that change come to life we need progressive, forward-thinking schools like Millfield to set the tone early in a girl’s life. We’re delighted to be working with them.

There is so much to be gained by opening up dialogue and by embedding better practises that speak to the specifics and the positives of the female body. By rewiring training and cultural norms, we not only improve confidence and performance in the individual, we evolve the system in ways that’ll resonate for decades to come.”

This isn’t the first steps Millfield has taken to improve equality in sport. Millfield’s Director of Football Steve Perkins and former technical talent coach for Women’s Football at the FA, is creating a blueprint for talented girls to achieve success in the women’s game. His plans, based on his experiences of coaching the Lionesses in their younger years, will see girls receiving double the amount of contact time than some Regional Talent Clubs currently offer on the Talent Programme, an unrivalled offer in the independent school sector.

In the lead up to launching the programme, around a year ago, Millfield also made the decision to swap out white shorts and skirts for blue after hearing concerns from female students around wearing white during periods, in football, rugby and hockey.

Girls success from Millfield include: Tamryn van Selm and Jade Phiri representing England and Zambia respectively in the 2022 Commonwealth Games, with Tamryn winning a bronze medal in the women's 4 x 200m freestyle relay. Girls senior netball first team crowned U19 Independent School National Champions. Upper Sixth student Clarissa Jackson and Ella Smith, and Lower Sixth students Lauren Pickup and Maya Kendell received their first official caps for representing the England ISFA U18 National Team. Upper Sixth tennis player Francesca Davis gained her first senior ITF world ranking, and competed at the 2022 Wimbledon pre-qualifying event.