Nearly two thirds of girls abandon sport by the age of 16. The statistic is sobering, and it prompts an uncomfortable examination of why.
When female athletes are routinely expected to perform in kit that fails to fit properly, lacks flattering design and leaves them feeling self-conscious, should we really be surprised that young girls are walking away from the sports they love?
The problem extends well beyond appearance. Poorly fitting kit can amplify self-doubt, intensify anxiety and, in certain instances, invite online harassment—criticism directed at bodies rather than abilities, and about clothing decisions athletes have no say in.
Yet momentum for transformation is building rapidly.
Female athletes are finally having their voices heard, and sports manufacturers alongside governing bodies are responding. Flexible kit options are rolling out, long-held conventions are being questioned, and there is genuine optimism that the alarming participation decline identified by Women in Sport research can be reversed.
For England Netball international Razia Quashie, the tangible effects of these shifts are already evident—both in her own experience and in how the next generation perceives sport.
This season, London Mavericks became the first Super League team to roll out a choice-kit range, developed over more than a year with Nike and KitQueen, offering players alternatives beyond the conventional netball dress. Leggings, shorts in various lengths, skorts and extended vests are now all available for athletes to choose from during both training and matches. For defender Quashie, the shift has proven transformative.
What's good for me, as one of the bigger girls, is that comfortability of knowing I don't have to wear a dress when I don't feel comfortable, Quashie, who has earned 29 caps for England, explained to Sky Sports.
Apart from match day, I don't wear a skirt, I wear leggings throughout the year. I'm a leggings girl through and through, no matter the weather.
Also working in a school where you see the girls playing, 58 per cent of those girls want better kit in their PE kits, some girls aren't comfortable wearing skorts, so it's good for us to be a role model for them.
Quashie understands intimately how restrictive clothing undermines self-assurance. In earlier seasons, ill-fitting dresses left parts of her body exposed—making her vulnerable to social media criticism.
I've had seasons where my undershorts showed the majority of the time and some of the views I got online weren't nice. But I didn't have a choice in that. That was a kit that I was given, she recalled.
For me, as someone who's a bit bigger, I didn't like seeing that out there. I know for someone who wants to take part in the sport and maybe they are big like me or even bigger, when you have to wear something that's not fitting to them, or exposes a lot more on some of the insecurities that you're not proud of, It can be a nasty place to be.
Her Mavericks colleague Izzi Phillips, just 20 and already establishing herself as one of England's most promising talents, is determined to prevent similar experiences for aspiring players.
We know that 64 per cent of girls drop out of sport by the age of 16 and we want to keep them in for as long as possible and take away any anxieties that come around that, Phillips said.
When you're playing sport, we do it because that's what we love and you shouldn't have to think of anything apart from going on to the court, how do we beat our opposition, or how are we being the best athletes we can be rather than thinking about how do I look?
We will know the anxieties or insecurities that we may go through as girls at any age and it's really just removing that as an obstacle or a barrier and encouraging people to do it for the love of the sport.
The Mavericks' campaign aims to sign up 30 schools to the Inclusive Sportswear Charter and provide kit choice to 100 players spanning from Under-15 academy through to the Super League squad. The initiative represents a Champion Project of the Inclusive Sportswear Charter, established by Team GB hockey Olympian Tess Howard to drive changes in sports and PE kit policies.
London Mavericks are not operating in isolation. Ahead of the 2026 campaign, Loughborough Lightning introduced expanded kit options of their own—a decision embraced throughout the squad.
Lightning captain Nat Panagarry articulated the challenge with clarity, telling Sky Sports:
In netball there's so many different body shapes. Everyone's different so, to just put a dress on everyone, some people get it and it's so short, some people get it and it's like a tent.
It's important that people are able to just go out and feel comfortable in what they're wearing and not have that on their mind. You're going to play netball. You don't want to worry about having to pull your dress down. If you get photos back and you see that your shorts are all out and you think 'Oh God'. So I think it is really important that people are feeling comfortable in what they're doing.
Panagarry's Lightning teammate Beth Durant concurs, acknowledging that restrictive clothing can
get in my head.
We get given netball shorts that are tiny and I love long shorts to feel happy when I'm playing, Durant explained.
So it's that comfort piece for me, not just training but in general including the kit you wear at the gym or when you're on a run. I think I always want to feel good and feel confident in it and that's what a lot of girls and women probably feel as well.
Addressing the broader health gap
Beyond inclusive kit, England Netball launched its 'I Wish I Knew' campaign last September to bridge the female health knowledge gap, dismantling stigmas and empowering girls to engage openly with questions about female health.
For Mavericks player Kira Rothwell, the campaign has been revelatory and offers the kind of education that can prevent young girls from abandoning sport.
There's been a big drive on things around pelvic health, period care, menstrual cycle and learning about it as athletes, Rothwell said.
And even though I'm training to be a doctor, I haven't learned much about that in my training as yet. To have that when I was younger would've been amazing because I know so many girls when we were going through the junior pathways who have to miss time for being in so much pain because of their periods and there was not really any support around what to do about that other than go on the pill, for example.
It's really important what we're learning, especially some of us that are younger in our team. We're still learning our bodies as it is. And I think it just shows how important female health is because we are people before athletes.
With more than 120,000 affiliated members and 1.3 million people playing netball in England, the sport's leadership position is understandable. Yet transformation is spreading across other disciplines—from female-specific football boots to adjustable sports bras and shorts replacing skorts in hockey.
Innovation from the ground up
In rugby union, England international Sadia Kabeya is championing innovation independently.
The back row, honoured as Player of the Match when the Red Roses ended an 11-year wait for World Cup glory last autumn, has created a satin-lined scrum cap designed to safeguard hair during play.
As Kabeya explains:
I'm a girl from South London, I'm big on, keeping my hair neat, having it look good and within the kind of afro curly hair community wearing a satin bonnet or a satin headscarf to protect your curls has always been a huge thing.
So I thought how can I combine those two things by putting a simple satin layer in a scrum cap and I spoke about this idea and Gilbert [manufacturer of rugby balls and equipment] said let's do it.
The outcome, she emphasises, is complete liberation.
When I have that scrum cap on I'm completely focused. I don't have to worry about little things that might be in my head. So I think for people coming into the game, already in the game, I think it's a huge thing that can just make it a lot easier.
Everyone wants to be at their most comfortable when they're playing a sport they love or being able to join a new sport. The worst thing about picking up a new sport is having to wear something 10 sizes too big. And when we're talking about wanting to keep girls in sport, we want to make it easier for them.
And I think for young black girls, especially when there's already a gap in terms of people they can see and, you know, the typical saying is if you can't see it, you can't be it. Being able to provide them with kit can make them feel part of a team which is huge in keeping them in the sport.
The bigger picture
The kit revolution reflects a wider shift in how sports organisations recognise and support female athletes. Beyond clothing, clubs are now tackling interconnected barriers. Earlier this year, Chelsea became the first WSL club to launch comprehensive fertility and maternity policies, partnering with Fertility Plus to give players choice over family planning while maintaining elite careers—a development that signals how holistic support is becoming essential to retention.
The participation data underscores the urgency. According to Women in Sport research, 55 per cent of girls aged 13–16 are not meeting government daily activity guidelines, a figure that demands urgent intervention across multiple fronts.
What comes next
London Mavericks will open their 2026 Netball Super League campaign against Nottingham Forest on 28 February at Hertfordshire Sports Village, showcasing their choice-kit initiative on the sport's biggest stage. Meanwhile, Manchester will host the 2031 Netball World Cup after England secured hosting rights for the third time, providing a platform for these innovations to inspire the next generation globally.
