A third of UK girls put off sport because of sportswear - report

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Apr 24, 2024

Despite a host of technical advances improving the fit of sportswear, over a third of women (36%) are still put off playing sport due to having to wear ill-fitting or hand-me-down clothing, according to new research.

Also, 38% of women believe there isn’t equal investment into boys and girls sports and 43% of respondents said their daughters didn’t play their best because of the sportswear used.

That’s despite 70% of girls saying they enjoy sport. 

These are the key findings from Maiden which, coincidently, has just launched a new cricket apparel range designed specifically for girls “to look, feel and play their best on the cricket pitch”

Its survey of 2,000 women also found 25% of girls today are unhappy with their sportswear, saying that it made them feel self-conscious, while 44% of women said they wouldn’t wear sportswear if it was uncomfortable, and wouldn’t play if it wasn’t fit for purpose “during their time of the month” (35%), or if sweat marks show easily (27%).

Wearing unsuitable and ill-fitting sportswear can affect girls’ ability to play sports at top level or can make them more prone to injury, the report also said.

In the Maiden research, 50% of women who could be put off by sportswear said that wearing more suitable sportswear would improve their self-confidence, while 40% said they felt it would improve their performance in the sport they're playing.

Maiden founder Honor Black said: “The fact that so many girls feel self-conscious wearing sportswear, when they really should be focusing on playing their best, is terrible. We created Maiden to encourage more girls into sport and experience the huge benefits that it brings – creating camaraderie, teaching you resilience, and improving your mental health which is so important for young people today. 

“We want to champion girls’ cricket and build a community where girls feel empowered. We have had an overwhelming response since we launched six weeks ago, with so many parents and girls contacting us saying they have been put off sport because of kit which is extremely sad, both for the individual who could have reaped all the benefits of a sport they love, and the future of female sports as a nation.”