I just became the coach of my first swim team, and I, being a male, am having a hard time with the whole period thing. My girls are middle school level, and a little shy about the subject, as am I. Now, I know that you can swim on your period by using a tampon, but they cringed at the idea. However, on a 20 girl team, I've got as many as 6-7 girls sitting out daily because of it. I know that's far FAR too high. I'm about this close to going out and buying a box of tampons to shove in their face if they don't dress.
So my questions are:
How necessary is it that you wear a tampon? Is it an every day thing? are there times when it's worse than others?
And, how can I easily make the lives of the swimmers who don't swim (and keep in mind it has to be for a group of 6-7 people) a living hell. I need a dry land work out that can be done on the pool deck that takes little effort to watch (so I can coach the other girls) and something they can't really slack off - I keep giving them push ups and they barely go down.
I really can't think of anything outside of making the actual swim session fun, so if you guys have ideas on how to do that too it might work, too. It need to work on something important though.
I think it is a combo of things here. They can sense your discomfort with the topic and some may be exploiting that. Some may be anxious about leakage or feeling really bad during their menses. There is probably general confusion about what happens when a bleeding girl gets in the water, how a tampon prevents leaks, etc. I have some sympathy-I started swimming at 37 and had to come here and ask this question in order to feel comfortable swimming while on my period. I didn't get the talk when I was a girl because I didn't swim.
I think the best approach is to recognize that these are children and individuals. They aren't a herd. They are probably swimming for a variety of reasons-parental pressure, to be with their best friend, or a love of swimming. They probably won't respond well to a heavy handed approach. In your shoes I'd do several firm, respectful, compassionate things: I'd have a frank group talk about the problem, discuss why it is a problem from a training standpoint to miss a week out of every month, and let them know that if there are girls among them who simply do not want to swim at all and are using this as a means to avoid getting in the pool, that is perfectly fine. They can choose another sport or hobby, but that they need to make that choice. If there are girls among them who feel really truly terrible on their periods, mention OTC pain control and let them know that tampons really do work, ask them how they think their female swim heros got to where they were (by sitting out 7 out of 30 days? Not likely!).
As a teacher I've had fantastic results with keeping an open line of communication with parents, involving them in what is going on in the form of letters. I think it is a good idea to let the parents know that your team is having this problem, how you have addressed it (better they hear it in YOUR words than from the kids- "coach told us to use tampons or we are off the team!") and to ask for their help in resolving this delicate problem. Some parents may not want their daughters to use tampons. I had a kid in my musical theater production class that was of a fundamentalist christian sect that did not permit dancing. She had to march in place while the cast sang and danced around her. Sometimes you have to adapt!
I think it is a combo of things here. They can sense your discomfort with the topic and some may be exploiting that. Some may be anxious about leakage or feeling really bad during their menses. There is probably general confusion about what happens when a bleeding girl gets in the water, how a tampon prevents leaks, etc. I have some sympathy-I started swimming at 37 and had to come here and ask this question in order to feel comfortable swimming while on my period. I didn't get the talk when I was a girl because I didn't swim.
I think the best approach is to recognize that these are children and individuals. They aren't a herd. They are probably swimming for a variety of reasons-parental pressure, to be with their best friend, or a love of swimming. They probably won't respond well to a heavy handed approach. In your shoes I'd do several firm, respectful, compassionate things: I'd have a frank group talk about the problem, discuss why it is a problem from a training standpoint to miss a week out of every month, and let them know that if there are girls among them who simply do not want to swim at all and are using this as a means to avoid getting in the pool, that is perfectly fine. They can choose another sport or hobby, but that they need to make that choice. If there are girls among them who feel really truly terrible on their periods, mention OTC pain control and let them know that tampons really do work, ask them how they think their female swim heros got to where they were (by sitting out 7 out of 30 days? Not likely!).
As a teacher I've had fantastic results with keeping an open line of communication with parents, involving them in what is going on in the form of letters. I think it is a good idea to let the parents know that your team is having this problem, how you have addressed it (better they hear it in YOUR words than from the kids- "coach told us to use tampons or we are off the team!") and to ask for their help in resolving this delicate problem. Some parents may not want their daughters to use tampons. I had a kid in my musical theater production class that was of a fundamentalist christian sect that did not permit dancing. She had to march in place while the cast sang and danced around her. Sometimes you have to adapt!
