We’ve seen Leah Williamson on Pepsi cans, Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the pages of Vogue, and Angel Reese walking in the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, and yet experts fear society still turns teen girls away from engaging in sport.
More than one in two (58%) of girls aged 14-15 report a lack of confidence as the reason they quit sport, according to recent studies.
This clearly demonstrates the need for a concerted effort from sports policy, education in school and elite sport to keep girls in sport — but where do we even start?
Inclusive Sportswear CIC, sports bra company PeBe and the University of Portsmouth’s breast support study have some ideas.
Working at different levels of society — policy, educational, commercial and scientific — these enterprises are part of a wider social movement ensuring that the next generation of girls feel educated and confident in their sports kit.
The consequences can be golden.
Olympic champion and GB rower Lola Anderson said: “The right sports bras have a huge impact on my performance.
“They gave me an extra 15 degrees worth of rotation in my body.
“Our gold medal was won by 0.04 of a second, and for me, that’s literally my sports bra — that’s it.”
Lola Anderson took part in the University of Portsmouth breast study, which ranks sports bras within a database that holds more than 400 types of specialist and high street sports bras.
The 27-year-old said: “The initial part was having a scan in different positions without any sports bra or top on.
“From there, we attached the electrodes onto me and ran on the treadmill with no sports bra on. It was very thorough.”
When asked about her motivation for taking part in the study, the World and Olympic Champion spoke about the need to make it normal and not a ‘stigmatised conversation.’
Anderson said: “For female athletes, if you’re constantly fighting your body, you’re never going to be owning and living your ultimate performance and your ultimate potential.
“The right fitting sports bra makes me feel so much more confident because I used to get so embarrassed about the idea of, oh, no are we going to be jumping today?”
PeBe want to make sure no one feels like that, whether Olympic medallist or teen girl going through puberty.
The sports bra company, ranked top in the University of Portsmouth study, “centres around the adjustability that allows girls to fluctuate and grow”.
Consequently, PeBe created bras that have adjustable straps so that asymmetrical breasts and breast size fluctuation during puberty, pregnancy and menopause can be dealt with through a single bra.
As well as partnering with elite programmes like Bristol Bears Women’s Rugby and the Military, PeBe goes into schools to deliver bra fittings and educate girls on breast tissue movement.
Co-founder Lucy Horsell said: “We always call it the OMG moment, everyone we fit will go, Oh, my God. Oh, my God, I don’t feel like I’ve got any boobs. And they say that in a really positive way.”
PeBe also took part in Regents Street summer pop-up shop called Style Of Our Own, where they brought in a treadmill for women to test out their new sports bras.
Charlotte Gill, the other co-founder, even took to the treadmill two days before giving birth.
Horsell said: “It was just brilliant to just show that every woman’s body deserves to be able to move.
“I think the most powerful thing you can do is put your money where your mouth is and create a product.
“The way to speak to a woman is by creating a product that works for her and acknowledges what her body needs.”
Lola Anderson agreed, she stated: “Until big companies are appreciative of the impact that they actually have on high performance athletes, then there’s not much more that female athletes can really do.”
The toy manufacturing company, Mattel has also dedicated themselves to ecnouraging more girls into sport.
Mattel released Ilona Maher, Ellie Kildunne, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe and Nassira Konde Barbies as a celebration of the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
Anderson said: “We’ve had all these athletes come from Malibu Barbie so think about the female athletes that will have come from playing with Ellie Kildunne.
“You have this perception that rugby is a man’s sport but Ilona is taking something that you perceive as a woman’s thing — rightly or wrongly, you think make up and red lipstick in particular is feminine — and she is going to force this explosion of the two.”
Olympic hockey player and founder of Inclusion Sportswear CIC Tess Howard is thinking about grassroots accessibility.
Inclusion Sportswear focuses on policy and her company aims to challenge the attitudes of power so that an individual’s choice of PE kit becomes the default for schoolchildren.
A Women in Sport’s survey found that 43% of girls who once considered themselves ‘sporty’ drop out of sport after primary school.
For Tess Howard, it’s about creating a system in which we find ‘unity through difference’ so that young girls feel comfortable and confident in their sports kit and will continue to play on into their teen years.
“When female athletes speak out about wanting to inspire girls to pick up a stick, what they’re really saying is there needs to be more club teams, there needs to be better equipment, there needs to be more equal opportunity.”
Those missing girls are being forced away from sport due to peer pressure, body image and not feeling safe outdoors.
Commonwealth gold medallist Howard said: “My thing has always been that low participation in sport is not a girl issue. And when I say that, I mean it’s not the girl’s fault.
“What I would like to see is PE kit done differently in every school because it’s a personal thing.
“PE itself is about freedom and that escape from school, but there’s no joy in wearing something that doesn’t fit.”
It seems to be working as the 26-year-old’s efforts changed GB Hockey’s kit policy — shorts were made part of official kit at Paris 2024 — but when Howard goes to training at East Grinstead, she is pleased to see a range of lower half kit.
All without it being made a flash-point of difference.
“I love asking an 8-year-old, ‘How do you feel wearing shorts?’ And she’s like. ‘What do you mean? I’m just wearing shorts’.”
Representation on magazine covers and toy shelves matters, but lasting change comes from structures that empower every girl to move with confidence.
The message is clear: when girls feel comfortable, informed and supported, they will stay in sport.
Make PE inclusive, change government policy, and the next generation won’t just play — they’ll win.
Howard put it succinctly when she said: “Fix the kit and they’ll stay to play.”
Rowing image: Photo credits to Ailura Loves Movement
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