A really good article on the Guardian Site on the research by England hockey player Tess Howard which says that clothing requirements for girls in the most underrated cause of low female sports numbers, something we are hoping address with the help of NEXX and Lacuna Sports with our girls and womens team.
Article
A new study has found that 70% of women saw girls drop out of sport when they were at school due to clothing and related body image concerns, with many left feeling “sexualised” by what they were forced to wear.
Published on Friday in the journal Sport, Education and Society after research compiled by England hockey international Tess Howard, the study also found that wearing different uniforms can influence the development of a fear of “masculinisation” and “butch/lesbian” perceptions in sport, and “signal the ways uniform can contribute to harmful athletic-feminine identity tensions in teenage girls”.
Recent studies have shown that by the age of 14, only 10% of girls meet physical activity health standards.
“The findings I discovered, in terms of the number of girls this is putting off sport, is truly alarming. It’s the most underrated cause of low female sport numbers,” said Howard.
Her research has led to new inclusive playing kits regulations being launched at the start of the domestic hockey season.
“It’s all about choice; choice is being rigorously inclusive. No person should be put off participating in any sport based purely on what the uniform requires them to wear. We must put the purpose of sport first and enable individuals to enjoy being active for all the clear benefits.”