Women athletes must protect their upper body

The importance of proper protective gear for women athletes was stressed at a symposium conducted for 90 women cricketers from 35 countries at the first-ever edition of the T-20 tournament, sanctioned by the International Cricket Council (ICC). R. Venkatesh. Tournament Director and Management Board Member of FairBreak Global Pty. Ltd., said Professor Deidre McGhee of Wollongong University, Australia, one of the foremost experts on breast health, is working with the players on proper sportswear for breast health. “A lot of women play with the wrong type of tops or sports bras, leading to pain and long-term damage," he explained.  

Elaborating on the breast health education project, Prof. McGhee said it aims to educate international women cricketers on fundamental female-specific health and sport issues, breast pain and breast support, breast injuries and breast protection, and also disseminate across the world the educational resources developed by the Breast Research Australia and the Australia Institute of Sport by training and mentoring Breast Education Leaders (BELs) from 31 nations to take this learning to their own countries.

“I am also running a research project at the FairBreak Invitational, 2022, with Elyse Potter, another sports physiotherapist from Australia,” says Prof. McGhee. The project aims to study the prevalence and severity of breast pain and breast injuries, as well as the breast support and protection knowledge and behaviour of international women cricketers. It will also look at the perceived impact of breast-related issues on athletic performance and the effects of intervention to improve breast support/bra fit and breast protection on breast pain and breast injuries.