Community Partnership

K uuCup are proud to announce our first community partnership with Greater London Women's Football League Division 2 North team - Upton Park Ladies.

Upton Park have a long-standing history of football with an original club founded in 1866 and participating in the very first FA Cup in 1871. Sadly, the club disbanded in 1911, leaving space for West Ham United (then known as Thames Ironworks) to move to the area from Canning Town, where football was not as popular. Before disbanding, however, the FA offered the club the opportunity to play in Paris at the inaugural Olympic Games in 1900. Upton Park were not participating in a league at the time playing only cup games and friendlies but having brought in players from other amateur teams they went on to win the competition in Paris! In 2016, West Ham United moved to the London Stadium and Upton Park "reformed" as an amateur club and staged the final game at the Boleyn Ground, against Royal Engineers.

The Upton Park Ladies (UPL) management team wanted to pay homage to the history of the original club and fill the void left at Upton Park, where football has always been an integral part of the community. Dan, Jack and Tim decided that the most appropriate way to do this would be to form an inclusive, community-based ladies' side and just one year in, they are already becoming recognised as the fastest growing women's club in London!

A new approach

UPL are dedicated to prioritising the health and wellbeing of their players, recognising the long-term benefits in optimising performance. The KuuCup team are incredibly impressed by their proactive approach to making the topic of menstruation an open conversation with players, removing any stigma and taboo, and focussing on ensuring that players are aware of the importance of menstrual cycle tracking, for optimised training and nutrition

KuuCup are providing UPL players with our sports focused menstrual cups and are working with the team to develop our products and affiliate programme, with footballers and grassroots clubs in mind. We hope our club affiliate programme will enable clubs to earn a passive income during a time when post Covid funding is limited. We intend to further support teams by offering advice and guidance regarding period management, making sure access to a range of sustainable products is available.

Daniel Merrix, UPL Manager and Coach says

We're excited to be working with KuuCup and look forward to our exciting new partnership blosomming.

KuuCup's ethos

KuuCup is focused on ensuring that athletes at all levels of all sports are able to train and compete throughout all phases of their cycles in comfort. It is our hope to be part of wider movement to educate and raise awareness of menstruation, breaking down barriers to participation in women's sport and ensuring that health and wellbeing is prioritised over short-term performance gains.

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