{"id":28499,"date":"2024-12-09T14:03:22","date_gmt":"2024-12-09T14:03:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/?post_type=podcast&p=28499"},"modified":"2025-12-15T11:08:35","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:08:35","slug":"kitman-labs-podcast-women-players-need-to-feel-safe-and-they-need-to-have-access-to-support","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/podcasts\/kitman-labs-podcast-women-players-need-to-feel-safe-and-they-need-to-have-access-to-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Kitman Labs Podcast: \u2018Women Players Need to Feel Safe and they Need to Have Access to Support\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n 9 Dec 2024 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Podcasts<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Kitman Labs Podcast: \u2018Women Players Need to Feel Safe and they Need to Have Access to Support\u2019<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Category<\/div>\n Human Performance<\/a>, Leadership & Culture<\/a> <\/div>\n
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https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/podcasts\/kitman-labs-podcast-women-players-need-to-feel-safe-and-they-need-to-have-access-to-support\/<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/section>\n\n\n\n\n
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We spoke to Arianna Criscione of Como Women, Sarah Smith of Angel City FC, and Kitman Founder Stephen Smith about the most pressing issues in women\u2019s football.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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A podcast brought to you by our Partners<\/p>\n

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You may have a great performance structure for your men\u2019s team, but simply cutting and pasting that to your women\u2019s team does them a disservice.<\/h6>\n

That is the view of Arianna Criscione, the Head of Football Operations at Mercury\/13 and Como Women. \u201cIt\u2019s not enough,\u201d she tells this Kitman Labs podcast. She explains that there are a range of services, from nutrition to psychology, that need to be tailored to women players.<\/p>\n

Criscione continues: \u201cYou also have to have access to medical [support], but a lot of clubs don\u2019t have access to a gynaecologist, which is a major part of the female body and really needs to be addressed a lot more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dentistry is another area of oft-neglected consideration. \u201cIf you have an off-bite, that can actually affect your structure and how you\u2019re running, which could cause injury.\u201d<\/p>\n

It is, as Sarah Smith says, about \u201cmaking sure that we have a good foundation of support around our athletes.\u201d Smith, who is the Director of Medical and Performance at Angel City FC in the NWSL, joins the conversation alongside Stephen Smith, the Founder of Kitman Labs.<\/p>\n

In addition to discussing holistic female player development [10:45], the trio delve into bridging the gap in data and understanding in women\u2019s football [15:45]; how talent identification is evolving [20:15]; as well as the existing disparities in data collection [28:10] from club to club and league to league.<\/p>\n

This is episode two of a three-part series. Please go back and check out episode one,<\/a> where the Leaders Performance Institute and Stephen Smith spoke to Paul Prescott of the International Football Group and Morten Larsen of Danish Superliga side Aarhus discussing talent pathways in the Premier League and beyond.<\/p>\n