Success with myLoop: Sophia's football experiences

In the 2023/24 season, the 24-year-old amateur player made it to the Bavarian South Regional League. Even the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes nine years ago could not stop her. Switching from pen therapy to myLoop has enabled her to focus even more on her sporting achievements.

How long have you been playing football and why is it your great passion?

I started playing football when I was a little girl. Then I tried out all kinds of sports, but football was always the one that excited me the most. The team spirit, the shared experience of highs and lows – that's something very special for me.

You were diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 15. How did you deal with it?

Fortunately, the doctors told me in hospital that I could continue to play football and do everything, even if it would be a bit more complicated for me. That took away my fear and I also did my first sports sessions there. Many of my team-mates visited me in hospital at the time and I also received a lot of support from my coaches. When I started training again and sometimes had to leave the pitch to eat something, it was a bit strange for everyone at first, but after a while it became normal and no one was surprised anymore.

How did you come to use myLoop?

In the first few years, I used a basal bolus therapy [or: ICT, MDI] with a pen. I often had very strong blood sugar fluctuations that I couldn't control with injections. My diabetologist advised me to switch to a pump, but for a long time I didn't want to have such a device constantly attached to my body. Last year, she told me about the automated insulin dosing, which regulates a lot of things on its own, and about the "Ease-off" and "Boost" options with the myLoop. I thought that was cool and I wanted to try it out.

What advantages does the myLoop offer you?

The fluctuations have become much less, both in everyday life and during sports. In my case, the glucose level increases due to stress hormones when playing football. In the past, I sometimes had an extreme increase of 180 mg/dL (10 mmol/L) within half an hour, which caused muscle cramps and shortness of breath, so that I could rarely play a full half-time. Now the increases are much smaller and I have fewer fluctuations – I can often play for the full 90 minutes.

Physically, I am just fitter now. Because I know that the myLoop does a lot of the work on its own, I also have a clearer head during training and can concentrate more on the exercises. The myLoop has simply taken a load off my shoulders and helped me to make another leap in performance.

Where do you store the pump and smartphone during sports?

I wear the YpsoPump in a sports bra that has a pocket on the side where I can put the pump. The smartphone is on a small bench at the edge of the pitch, where we also keep our drinks. When we take a break from drinking during training, I check my glucose levels and react accordingly with "Boost", "Ease-off", a manual correction bolus or a sip of juice.

What do you do differently in a game than in training?

On match days, I make sure that the food I eat does not upset my glucose levels. That's why I almost always eat the same breakfast on these days and about 2 hours before kick-off, I eat 300 grams of cooked pasta without sauce. I spent a long time trying out different foods to see how my body reacts to them, so that I could find the best way for me.

My parents are always there at the games too, they are big fans of our team and the game is their weekend outing. If for some reason my meal plan doesn't work out or something else goes wrong, I give my parents the smartphone and they check my values during the game and can react. I'm very lucky to have such great parents.

Do you have any other support?

Yes. I've already told you about the coaches, the team and the myLoop. I went to the hospital again to switch from the pen to the pump and the myLoop, and someone there told me about a project to support competitive athletes with type 1 diabetes, called Challenge D. I wasn't sure whether I would be able to get advice there too, but I just wrote to them. That's how I got in touch with Ulrike Thurm, who looks after a lot of athletes with diabetes and gave me some valuable tips. It would be great if more people knew about projects like this and if they became bigger, so that more people could find out about them and, in particular, children and young people could be supported even better.

What advice do you have for football-loving girls or boys with type 1 diabetes who dream of becoming successful athletes?

From my own experience, I know that it can be difficult to deal with the condition at first. But only if you talk openly with coaches, team mates, parents and the diabetes team can they support you in the best possible way. You also have to be open to yourself and accept the condition. I fought against my diabetes for a long time, but at some point I turned the switch and decided to live with it. Otherwise you can't get anywhere in sport.

You also have to be brave. My diabetes doesn't follow the textbook example, for example my glucose level rises when I do sport. You have to try things out. Note what you have done and see how it works and learn from it. First in training and then in the game. Don't be sad or despair if it doesn't work out. Because there will always be days that go catastrophically wrong. But if you have a goal and want to achieve something, that motivates you to keep going and not to lose heart.

And now that you know my story, I hope you will think: if Sophia has done it, then so can I!