In this episode of the Femme FC Podcast, Nicole is joined by Shawn Hanlon and Sarah Neal for a deep dive into Achilles tendinopathy management in elite soccer, blending cutting edge research with the realities of professional sport.

Shawn shares insights from his research on tendon pathology, subgroup classification, and why symptom duration and imaging often fail to predict outcomes. Sarah brings a clinician's perspective from professional women's soccer, discussing how tendinopathy typically presents as an acute on chronic issue, how flare ups are managed in season, and how load monitoring, athlete education, and collaboration across departments can keep players available.

This conversation reframes tendinopathy not as a simple overuse injury, but as a complex, system wide challenge requiring thoughtful load management rather than rest.

Topics include:

• What tendinopathy really is and why structure does not equal symptoms

• Tendon health subgroups and their relevance to elite athletes

• Acute vs chronic tendinopathy and why duration does not change rehab outcomes

• Safe loading through pain and the pain monitoring model

• In season management strategies for long, congested soccer schedules

• GPS, high speed running, and load metrics that matter most for tendons

Register for the Soccer Performance Support Summit!

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Enjoy this special episode of the Femme FC Podcast where we revisit every guest's favorite thing about women's soccer. We also hear from host Nicole Surdyka's former college teammates about their college soccer playing experience and how that has shaped who they are today.

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In this episode of the Femme FC Podcast, Nicole speaks with Copa, physical therapist for the Houston Dash, about the real-world process of returning elite footballers to performance after pregnancy. Copa shares how she developed a postpartum RTP framework after managing three pro-player cases back-to-back, and what clinicians can do, especially in resource-limited women's sport settings, to support postpartum athletes safely and confidently.

Topics include:

• Early postpartum priorities and tissue healing considerations

• Pelvic floor cueing and progression into impact, sprinting, and sport demands

• Structuring return to run + strength training, and why recovery drives decisions

• Progressing workload week to week (when to repeat, when to push)

• Readiness for team training, contact exposure, and match minutes using key metrics

• The overlooked essentials: fueling demands (including breastfeeding), fatigue, and long-term monitoring

Register for the Soccer Performance Support Summit! Early bird registration ends on December 20th, 2025!

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/soccer-performance-support-summit-tickets-1625338644639?aff=oddtdtcreator