“I had no idea about this in my first few seasons of coaching in the female space, but we recently partnered with a big University over here who are doing research into REDs.
“We had a list of 30 players and out of those, six tested to REDs, which means they are not bringing in the energy, the nutrients they need that’s going out the door the other way in how much they are expending.
“It’s a big thing in women’s sport that can lead to lack of sleep, poor recovery and lack of performance. They are just a couple of the barriers that are still here but we are starting to get a greater awareness about it.”
Dr Tenley Murphy, Assistant Athletic Director, Sports Medicine, at Clemson University, added: “We have created performance teams for each individual sport, so we are constantly collaborating about each individual student athlete and their needs to make sure we are addressing REDs.
“We have so many kids who just don’t know how to fuel correctly for participating at the collegiate level, and walking 20,000 steps around Campus to go to class and then they can’t figure out why they don’t perform.
“Having a group that can come together that were all invested in our female student athletes from the beginning has helped us make invaluable changes.”