During this period, Jori needed “someone to sit there and listen,” but instead found people reluctant to discuss body image and eating disorders, something she believes was due to a fear of not knowing how to respond.
Being open about her own experience has helped Gori break down some of these barriers with both her athletes and her family and friends, and she believes she now has the tools to start conversations with her fellow players and offer support before they get into the same vortex as her. Confrontation.
“It was really hard,” she said. “[People] I could see I was going through things, but no one wanted to ask that question, and I thought maybe [that’s] Because no one knows how to respond.
“If someone says: ‘No, I'm actually not feeling well, this is what I'm going through’ – how do I respond to that?
“I'm grateful for what I went through because I can share my experience with the young players and people around me to make sure they don't go through something like this.
“Now that I've gone through that experience, I can see players going through it and it's a good tool for me because I'm able to open up those conversations before I can see it escalate to a bad place.”
Fran Kirby, the England and Brighton midfielder, has previously raised issues regarding “stigma”., external About nutrition in women's football and the pressure on female players to deal with abuse related to their body image.
“It's important that we talk about body image and the way we respect our bodies,” Jori added.
“As footballers, you think you can overcome anything, and that's something we don't talk about a lot.
“[But] We're still going through things off the field, and we need a space where we can talk to each other, help each other, [and] We will be better footballers in the end.”
