As an elite physical performance coach, Dawn Scott was described as the ‘secret weapon’ who helped the US Women’s Soccer team win two World Cups and Olympic Gold. The proud Tyneside woman also served England and the Lionesses for more than 10 years in two different stints and is now working with FIFA and UEFA on a range of projects. In this exclusive chat with Orreco’s Marc Cleary, Dawn speaks’s about her career and many golden moments.
Our podcast, Optimized, is our opportunity to bring you news from the frontline of elite sports performance, where biomarkers and analytics meets the possibilities of A.I. and machine learning. It’s also our chance to bring you the latest on what Orreco is up to.
In this episode of Orreco’s ‘Optimized’ podcast, Marc Cleary is joined by world renowned physical performance coach and the ‘secret weapon’ of the US women’s soccer back-to-back World Cup wins in 2015 and 2019, Dawn Scott.
Dawn and Marc discuss the mindset and focus shift that occurs in the weeks after a World Cup victory, where the constant pressures of camp and competition become normal and the sudden shift back to reality takes time.
Dawn talks about her initial involvement in the world of elite sport performance. Unsure of what direction she should take and switching university courses until opportunity and passion aligned to pursue education and a possible career in football. Unsure of where it might lead, Dawn outlines some of her earliest work with local team’s providing physiological support in her evening free time. With persistence, she carved out an opportunity with the English FA, which ignited a remarkable career.
The conversation moves to the circumstances of Dawn became aware of Orreco and the FitrWoman app prior to the 2019 World Cup and how the need for female specific support was becoming more and more apparent in the elite football environment. At first, with some rudimentary monitoring, Dawn noticed trends in the data around sleep loss on certain cycle dates. This led to more questions of the impact of the menstrual cycle on performance and how phase and symptom tracking can bolster the athlete’s performance.
Marc enquires on the buy in of the players and staff for such monitoring. Dawn highlights the essential role of education to support understanding and confidence to clarify the ‘why’ of menstrual cycle monitoring, for both staff and athlete. After a brief discussion of the exiting trajectory of women’s football, Dawn then elaborates on two of her top footballing moments from her career thus far.
To discover more about Orreco and our cutting-edge work at the frontline of elite sports performance, listen to ‘Optimized', you can listen to it on our podcast page or you can download it from wherever you getyour podcasts.
