For the first time outside of a research environment, the mobile-first Vodafone PLAYER.Connect platform allows concussion data to be viewed side-by-side with menstrual cycle data.
Vodafone, founding principal partner of Wales Women’s and Girls’ Rugby, has added new concussion tracking technology to its revolutionary PLAYER.Connect platform, to help female athletes better track and manage the symptoms of concussion.
Concussion remains the most common injury within rugby. Reducing the risk of concussion, and mitigating its short- and long-term symptoms, is one of the highest priorities for the sport’s governing bodies.
Research published by the University of Birmingham has suggested that female athletes may suffer both a higher rate of concussion and more severe and prolonged symptoms than their male counterparts, with the hormone variation during the menstrual cycle noted in the research as a key factor.
By integrating concussion tracking into its PLAYER.Connect platform, Vodafone aims to help athletes, medical staff and coaches better analyse the impact of the menstrual cycle on concussion and more effectively manage and track concussion symptoms.
The addition will, for the first time outside of a research environment, enable players’ concussion data to be viewed side-by-side with their menstrual cycle data. It also means concussion data can be captured and analysed more frequently and quickly than ever before.
The Wales Women’s Rugby Team has been trialling the Vodafone PLAYER.Connect concussion tracking module since November 2023, including in the lead up to the 2024 Guinness Women’s Six Nations, and will continue to do so throughout the remainder of the tournament and beyond.
This follows the implementation of Vodafone PLAYER.Connect’s original menstrual cycle tracking module, which has been in use by Wales Women’s Senior and Pathway teams since February 2023.
Joanna Perkins, head physiotherapist, Wales Women said: “Vodafone PLAYER.Connect gives us real-time information on our athletes and their symptoms, including their cycle phases and any potential concussion symptoms. This lets us intervene more easily, as well as enabling us to capture trends for individual players too. So, if we see a drop in certain data, we can determine if it’s the norm for the player [at that stage of her menstrual cycle] or if it is indicating that something else is going on, which is incredibly useful information to have and act on.”
Vodafone PLAYER.Connect gathers data on players’ performance, menstrual cycle phases and mental and physical wellbeing, by automating input from players and coaches. The new concussion module helps track symptoms including headaches, nausea and balance by integrating a digital version of the SCAT5 symptom evaluation protocol, as well as monitoring recovery. A breakdown of the SCAT5 protocol and data captured is available below.*
As a mobile-first platform, Vodafone PLAYER.Connect also allows players, medical staff and coaches to monitor athletes’ health and wellbeing even when outside of training camp. This is a crucial advantage for national teams and allows always-on monitoring of concussion recovery.
John Mulcahy, performance consultant, Vodafone PLAYER.Connect, said: “The addition of the concussion module to Vodafone PLAYER.Connect is really significant. It’s the first time outside of a research environment that we’ve been able to get holistic data that looks at how the menstrual cycle might affect their [concussion] recovery and their symptoms.
“It’s a major step forward in ensuring the wellbeing of the players and helping to close that data gap for all female athletes, whatever their level.”
In addition to the trial, Vodafone is working with Cardiff Metropolitan University on a long-term research study using the data gathered from Vodafone PLAYER.Connect to further investigate the impact of concussion and the menstrual cycle, given only six per cent of current sports science research focuses on female athletes.
