Dawn Scott: The Evolution of Athlete Monitoring in Women's Sport

In this episode of VALDCAST, Dawn Scott reflects on her journey from introducing sport science to England's Women's National Football (Soccer) Team in the early 2000s to helping drive performance innovation with the U.S. Women's National Soccer (Football) Team during an era that included multiple World Cup and Olympic successes. The conversation explores: ✅ How women's football has evolved over the last 25 years ✅ Building sport science programs when resources and technology were limited ✅ The introduction of athlete monitoring, GPS and performance profiling in elite football ✅ Why individualization is essential for athlete development ✅ Bridging the gap between national teams and club environments ✅ The importance of education, athlete buy-in and contextual decision-making ✅ Applying a female-athlete lens to performance and athlete management ✅ Lessons learned from working across multiple generations of elite athletes Whether you work in sport science, strength & conditioning, rehabilitation or athlete performance, this episode offers valuable insights into building systems that evolve with both the sport and the athlete.