Menstrual cycles are back in the esports conversation after a League of Legends coach claimed to track his partner’s period for two

League of Legends players can’t seem to let go of the idea that women have a menstrual cycle. Recently, the star coach said he tracks the menstrual cycles of two of his teammates to see when they play best.

In a controversial – and hopefully funny – post, Tony Chau broke down performance statistics from 147 ranked games. Based on the data collected, Chau concluded that her lover, yuulu, plays better when she is not on her period.

“Tracking your league team’s cycle times can lead to increased win rates,” he tweeted. “We’re not just playing League. We’re playing League around her hormonal cycles.”

According to his data yuulu allegedly wins 55.1% overall, but this can drop to 52% if he is on period and can rise to 57.5% if he is not.

Although yuulu responded with humor to a very strange tweet, it sounds offensive and full of generalizations that are harmful to those outside. Although Chau says it’s about gathering information about strategic play, it reads a little on the sexist side as this is a weird topic that has already been brought up.

I say “strangely” because why are male League of Legends players discussing this? Many times?

Back in September 2025, FlyQuest the top line Gabriel “Bwipo” Rau He was suspended for a few games after he ranted about women’s menstrual cycles. Instead of discussing how menstruation can make women play more aggressively, however, he said it makes them completely unable to compete at a high level.

While on Twitch, Bwipo felt it was appropriate and normal to talk about women’s periods and how they can’t play League of Legends on stage. She pointed out that women don’t have a lot of support in sports, which means no one creates competitive schedules in their time.

FlyQuest, which has an all-female LoL team, called the comments “unethical” to the organization’s core values. The organization went on to say that these types of comments can discourage women from “pursuing her dream of becoming a professional athlete.”

This was a sentiment shared by other people in the sports arena, pointing out that this type of talk about women’s time is dangerous, as it is an argument that is often used to keep women out of other male-dominated fields and hobbies.

Esports personality Eefje “Sjokz” Depoortere commented on TikTok: “Menstruating women, fast, they have terrible pains, they are very tired, [but still] running Olympic records, putting in 24-hour nursing shifts, being the breadwinner of four children, caring for the elderly, being the CEO of a big company, being lawyers! But a League of Legends game? Pick up the phone!”

Not understanding female anatomy in the 2020s is troubling. Persistent ignorance of women and persistent gender stereotypes, rather than, well, just he asked women’s personal experiences and respect for the answers, which continue to create these hostile environments in sports fields and other places especially for men.

Chau’s strange obsession with monitoring the menstrual cycles of her two colleagues is nowhere near as based on vicious sexism, but it still highlights the negative stereotypes associated with women’s periods. Another response even said: “Bwipo was right all the time.”

Joke or not, the narrative that women become aggressive and unruly during their periods is dangerous. While some responses showed the absurdity of the post in a humorous way, and even pointed out that there should be real research on the subject to improve performance and strategies, others took the opportunity to spit out many sexist expressions, which were fueled by Chau’s talking points.

“This is part of the reason why men are so dominant in sports,” wrote one weirdo on X. “It’s not transphobic, it’s not misogynistic. It’s biological processes that affect mental competitiveness, brain fog, and heightened neuroticism.”

While it may sound like a silly tweet at first, it is clearly continuing to increase the gender presence in the esports space. It makes me cringe personally, especially seeing women find it harmless fun. But whatever, I’m not the police of League of Legends and I can’t expect everyone to understand the depth, variety, and different situations. So yes, the time tweet is weird and funny.