More than third of women playing football and camogie experience urinary leakage

More than one third of women playing Gaelic football and camogie experience urinary leakage during training and match play, research has found.

Urinary leakage – a form of incontinence – remains a hidden struggle for many female athletes, largely due to embarrassment and stigma, a report found.

Dublin City University’s research, published in Science and Medicine in Football, explores how menstrual cycle-related symptoms, hormonal contraceptive use, and indicators of pelvic floor dysfunction affect players of ladies Gaelic football and camogie.

Among players not using hormonal contraceptives, 97.7 per cent reported menstrual cycle–related symptoms, most commonly abdominal cramping (84 per cent) and fatigue (82.2 per cent).

Around 85 per cent believe their menstrual cycle affects onfield performance, with 59 per cent indicating a negative impact.

Approximately 37 per cent of athletes experienced urinary leakage during training or matches, suggesting potential pelvic floor concerns. A high proportion also experience urinary urgency (47.8 per cent) and genital pain (43.4 per cent).

Dr David Nolan, assistant professor of Sport and Exercise Sciences at the DCU School of Health and Human Performance, said urinary leakage is a current taboo in women’s sports.

He said: “There’s more and more data being gathered, more studies coming out showing that active young sports women are experiencing urinary leakage at a significant rate, very high prevalence in gymnastics, in strength sports.

“But now in field sports, you get more data that it’s affecting up to one third of our players.

“From working in female sport myself, I knew there was a prevalence of it, but I didn’t expect it to be that high. This is probably the issue of why it’s