Role of the Sport Scientist in Elite Football & Being a Woman in the Football Industry

FEATURE / DR. LAURA BOWEN INTERVIEW BY ELLE TREZISE

This is a transcript of the FMPA Podcast episode of the same name that was released in April 2022. It has been edited for clarity and to improve readability. It was transcribed by the host.

If you’d prefer to listen, episodes can be found on the FMPA website, Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud and Spotify.

Dr. Laura Bowen Eleanor Trezise

In this podcast episode host Elle Trezise, a medical student and member of the FMPA Education Team, speaks to Lead Sport Scientist for Southampton FC Women and Girls Dr. Laura Bowen.

Elle

Welcome to this Football Medicine and Performance podcast. I’m Elle Trezise, a medical student in London and your host for today’s episode. Today I’m delighted to be joined by Dr Laura Bowen. Laura is the lead sport scientist for Southampton FC Women and Girls and in the past worked as a sport scientist with Southampton’s Men’s First Team. She also works as a consultant at FIFA. She has done a PhD on workloads and injury risk in Premier League football and has a bachelor’s degree in Sports and Exercise Sciences, both from the University of Birmingham. Thank you for joining us today, Laura.

Laura

Thank you for having me. It’s exciting. Thank you for asking.

Elle

Good to have you on board. Today we’re going to discuss the work you do as a sport scientist in elite football, as well as your experience being a woman working in this industry.

Tell us a bit about your career to date. What got you interested in sport science and what drew you to working in elite football?

Laura

I played football from when I was a little kid. I grew up in an estate with boys. So, we’d just go out and play on the fields all afternoon and that’s how I got into football. When I got a little bit older, I realised I was never going to be a player. I’m not very good at playing and I think you’ll find most those of us that end up as sport scientists… it’s usually because we’re not good enough to play or we’ve played, and now retired. As part of my dissertation at Uni we got the opportunity to work within a football club and that’s really where I jumped at the opportunity. I got into sport science because I love sport and it’s what made me confident and then I got the opportunity to work in a football club. So, I went to Villa and then I did my dissertation there and they offered me a job at the end of it because they needed a nerd to sit at a computer and crunch all the GPS numbers which was brand new at the time and that suited me perfectly. I saw it as a foot in the door.

Then I moved over to Southampton to do almost the same job in their academy there. I have been at SFC ever since, working with the academy first as a GPS analyst, then as a sport scientist before moving into the First Team. Again, started out crunching the numbers. Then was a bit more hands on, getting involved in rehabs and conditioning sessions. Then about a year ago I moved to the women’s team. It’s the first time I’ve led a squad as the lead sport scientist which is really nice too.

Elle

That’s really interesting. What does your typical day as a sport scientist look like?

Laura

At the moment or in the past?

Elle

It’d good to make the distinction actually. It’d be interesting to see how it does compare. As we were discussing before we hit record when you were working with the men’s first team it was a very packed schedule. The women’s team’s schedule is not as packed at the moment because the team is in tier three and so not yet full-time. So yeah, maybe give us some insight into how a typical day differs between the two.

Laura

With the men’s team I was in most days. You’d have a meeting first thing in the morning with all the backroom staff whether that be the doctors, physios, soft tissue therapists, sport science, strength conditioning. Everyone would map out the day and where you can all support each other best with a player-centred approach. From there, it would be potentially taking rehab sessions in the morning or getting things ready for the squad and then going out. Monitoring the training sessions for the ones that are in the squad or being out taking a rehab session, crunching all those numbers, making reports in the afternoon and then being in the gym, being around the team again, supporting in there. And then at the end of the day, you’d sort of bring it all together and plan for the next day. Quite fast paced and very reactive. But really a lot of planning, a lot of reacting to numbers and modifying things for the next day. In terms of my role anyway.

Now with the women’s team we train at night. So, I’ve been practising trying to turn my mornings into evenings and chill out [in the mornings]. From about 12 o’clock I go in. Again, sort of similar, we have a meeting amongst the staff but there’s less of us. It’s quite nice because within that meeting is the coaching team as well which is different from the men’s team where the backroom staff and coaching team are a bit more separate. Now it’s all together and we plan training as a group. From that point on, it’s making reports from the previous day,

planning gym programmes and actually a lot of things that you wouldn’t necessarily expect to come under a sport science umbrella. So, making sure food is ordered for the weekend or making sure someone’s got the right size kit. It’s a lot of running around and doing jobs that sort of fit in as ad hoc duties. And then when the girls come in, especially because they have jobs as well, they come in at different times. So, being around for different gym and rehab slots that fit in around their other schedules. Then being around for a training session, taking warm-ups, taking conditioning sessions, advising the coach on, you know, “do we do one more small-sided game or do we come out?” Then more gym sessions after training. Then obviously being around on a matchday, supporting, taking warm-ups.

Elle

Thank you for that. I think that leads quite nicely into the next question.

I imagine it’s one thing to record the data and to analyse it, but quite another to communicate it to coaching staff, other support staff, players, as well as to get buy in. So, in your experience what’s the best way to communicate the important metrics to players and other staff and what helps to get buy in?

Laura

I thought about this question because I think it’s something that took me longer than it should have to learn. The best way to get buy in and to get that information across is to ask them what they want. What do they want to know? What answers do they want from the data? For most coaches it’s “did we hit…?” Or “do we want to hit…? Are we preparing them for games?” and then using whatever metrics they’re comfortable with for answering their question.

Hopefully by now I have a reasonable experience of what the numbers actually mean. [The coaches] don’t need to know what they mean. It’s more around the conversation of, “today was extensive. Tomorrow we could maybe go a little bit more intensive and make the pitch sizes smaller.” I think that conversation is really important.

And then with the players, again, I think it’s very important to have a conversation. Usually, they want to know who’s ran the most, who’s ran the fastest, who’s done the most accelerations. Whatever it is you’re looking at, I think it’s about giving them context behind that. Running the most doesn’t mean that you’ve performed the best. Running the fastest doesn’t mean you’ve performed the best. You might be sprinting max out because you’re out of position. It’s about having the conversation around the context and then, hopefully, building those relationships over time helps to build buy in.

Elle

Do you mind expanding a bit on the way that you have found you can build relationships to get buy in?

Laura

It’s different for everybody. For example, Marieanne who’s the head coach of the women’s team now, she’d much rather have a conversation that doesn’t involve a report. But learning that over time, you know. Getting into a position where you’re providing answers, where you’re open. You leave your ego at the door a little bit and do whatever is best for the players and show that that’s what you’re in it for.

I’ve worked with other coaches who were very interested in seeing the numbers. But they don’t always understand what they mean. They just like to see the numbers and then hopefully over time you can make little inroads into showing that you’re interested in just getting the best out of the players. Whatever they want, understanding how they want to play - I think it’s important. I always try to understand what the coach wants out of the team rather than just being like, “I’m a sport scientist so I don’t need to know tactics”. Using the same terminology and understanding the way they want to play. Understanding where they see players fitting within the group. Understanding the player if they’ve just been dropped from the squad and then you tell them they’ve ran the least in the training session… understanding them as people, I think that’s what helps.

Elle

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So, in your opinion, at elite level, what’s the most effective way sport scientists and medics, physios, doctors, etc, can work together to optimise the physical performance of players and reduce their injury risk?

It’s about having the conversation around the context and then, hopefully, building those relationships over time helps to build buy in.

Photo: Southampton FC

Laura

In a similar way, good communication and removing your own ego. Building trust as a team, understanding that everybody is there to get the best out of the players. So, if I suggest doing something and you suggest doing something and they’re against each other, they’re against each other but only because you’re doing what you think is best and I’m doing what I think is best. How can we reach a compromise? Or how can we at least understand where the other person is coming from?

Always have the players in the centre and not “I want to do this testing because it makes me look good.” Instead, more “what do the players actually need in this moment?”

I think the most success that I’ve ever seen is a team that actually works together and has each other’s backs because there’s lots of different ways of approaching things. I think you’re lying if you say there’s one answer but it’s at least just understanding that everyone is going for the same thing and where the benefits lie.

Elle

It sounds like you’re really saying to keep it player-centred and remember that you’ve all essentially got the same goal which is to support the players and the performance of that team.

Laura Yeah.

Elle

Moving on now to your experience being a woman working in the men’s professional game. What was that like? I ask because I imagine it is a different experience working with the Women and Girls programme, which you transferred across to just over a year ago, after previously working with the Men’s First Team at Southampton for a number of years.

Laura

Yeah. What was it like? Challenging is probably the best way that I can phrase it. Not necessarily in a bad way. It’s a professional environment and there’s very high standards. It is very fast paced. There’s a lot of experts so you learn a lot. Also challenging because in my opinion, as a female in that environment you have to prove yourself a lot. A lot more than maybe a man would. Because it’s so male dominated you instantly look out of place. If you’re one or two of the only females in the room and someone new walks in, it’s a bit of a shock especially if they’ve been at other clubs where there’s perhaps not females and you have to prove yourself over and over, I think. I learnt a lot. The men’s game is ahead of the women’s game. It’s been going for longer. There’s a lot of experts in the field. There’s a lot of money. There’s a lot of experience. So, I got the opportunity to work with some incredible practitioners and some incredible athletes. I think being a woman in a male dominated environment, especially in football, it’s come a long way. But there’s still a long way to go. That’s probably the fairest way to put it.

Elle

Keeping that in mind, what advice would you have for women aspiring to have a successful career in elite football? In fact, anyone looking to achieve similar things to yourself regardless of gender?

Laura

I would say be passionate about it. Show who you are as a person and don’t lose that. Stay true to your values. I would like to think that the environment is changing but the biggest changes are made when there is a shift in mindset. It is not about anybody - male or female - belonging or not belonging in that environment. It’s about the mindset of everyone that is professional within a professional environment. So be yourself. Stay true to your values and be passionate because there’s a lot of people who want these jobs but it’s a lot of time and a lot of commitment. You have to really love it. And you have to keep showing it.

Elle

That’s great. Now for the last question.

Some say there is a bias in football and it is a barrier to women getting certain positions. In fact, a previous guest who came on the pod, Rachel Davis who is head of physiotherapy at Harrogate Town FC, said this in her episode with us. Do you agree with this? If so, do you have any views about how this could be addressed?

Laura

You know, I do agree with it. I think probably one of the best ways to address it is to be open and upfront about it. It’s not just in football. Lots of industries will talk about how women don’t apply to roles or they have a lot less females applying to roles than males. You can see from the environment that football is very male dominated still. So, you can’t say there’s not that issue there.

I think, again, it’s about changing mindset. The old school mindset might be that women in football are a distraction, but it’s actually about professionals being professionals and treating each other that way. I think everybody deserves respect and to be valued for whoever they are. I think most companies are striving for that now and it is getting there. You’re only narrowing your talent pool otherwise, right?

Elle

Yeah, that’s fair. Well, thank you so much, Laura. Thank you for coming on the podcast today and for giving up your time. I found that really interesting and insightful. I’m sure the listeners have too.

Laura

Thank you very much for having me.

Elle

Listeners, if you enjoyed today’s episode, please subscribe to the FMPA podcast on Spotify, SoundCloud or Apple Podcasts. Alternatively, please check out the podcast section of the FMPA website. Thank you for listening to the Football Medicine and Performance Podcast. Have a great day.

Photo: Southampton FC