Colenso and Medibank Create an International Team of Female Athletes Who Can’t Play Because of the Same Injury

Australian health insurer Medibank has launched ACL United, the team nobody wants to join.

The club is uniting female athletes affected by ACL injury and supporting them through their recovery, while raising awareness of the need for greater understanding and research.

Female athletes are up to 5x more likely than men to injure their ACL, due to a fraction of the money spent on researching athlete performance being dedicated to women alone.

Right now, there are enough top international footballers out with ACL injures to form an entire team. These players make up the ACL United XI. The star-studied line-up includes home grown talent Taylor Ray and international star Nadia Nadim. A team bursting with potential, that sadly won’t be realised.

The ACL United team also includes Australian athletes from various codes, including basketball legend Lauren Jackson, and AFLW star Erin Phillips. Each affected by ACL injury in their careers.

The ACL United community lives on Instagram, where athletes can find support, educational information, and tips to help them through ACL rehabilitation.

This follows three years of partnership between Medibank and La Trobe University, with Medibank supporting sports research on female athletes to help women avoid preventable injuries.

“If you think women are great now, imagine what we can achieve with fairer research. Medibank and ACL United are changing the game around ACL injuries”, said Medibank CMO, Fi Le Brocq.

Colenso group creative director, Matt Swinburne says, “There’s a huge injustice in sports research and female athletes are paying a huge price. We hope ACL United can go some way to helping even the odds”.