Blood, sweat and fears: The revolution being led by this Matilda

1 week ago 4

You’d be forgiven for thinking the logo added to Katrina Gorry’s soccer kit was just another sponsor for the new English Women’s Super League season. In fact, you’d be forgiven for not noticing it at all as the Matildas veteran captains her club, West Ham United, in their season opener against Tottenham on Sunday.

Instead, that logo is the result of a player-led movement sweeping women’s sport: Gorry will be wearing period-proof shorts.

This season, for the first time, a professional women’s soccer club has partnered with ModiBodi, a company that creates period-proof underwear and athleisure wear – further widening the gap between clubs that cater to the specific needs of female players, and those that don’t.

Gorry said the partnership was a “groundbreaking moment for women’s sport which we hope will continue conversations on a key barrier for participation in sport for women and girls.”

“West Ham have always been at the forefront in driving positive change in regards to women’s health and supporting players [to] feel their best on and off the pitch. The club was one of the first to move from white to period-friendly shorts colours, so this partnership with ModiBodi just highlights the club making another positive and powerful step,” she said.

The colour of female athletes’ kits has been a subject of angst for some time. In 2023, Wimbledon’s rules changed to allow women to wear dark shorts beneath the all-white dress code.

Katrina Gorry, captain of West Ham United in a pre-season match against wearing leak-proof shorts.

Also, national women’s soccer teams in England and New Zealand changed to darker shorts colours, as did some NRLW and AFLW clubs. For the 2023 women’s World Cup, Nike designed period-proof shorts for 13 teams.

Still, not all clubs or federations have given their female players such an option.

When the England team first changed their kits, it wasn’t an act of benevolence, but rather a concession to the requests of outspoken players, like forward Beth Mead.

Despite that, Mead’s club side Arsenal – which is also where Matildas Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney Cross play – still wear white shorts. The club provides darker shorts for players to wear under their kit if they want them.

In arguably the most competitive football league in the world, Gorry thinks having a period-proof kit provides an advantage over clubs that don’t.

“Feeling confident is so important to helping us perform at our maximum. This is so important in the WSL, which is one of the best and most competitive leagues in the world, so any marginal gains you can make to put in your best performance are crucial,” she said.

It appears, that other WSL club’s may be thinking the same. On Friday morning, Chelsea posted a hint that it may be adding leak-proof designs to its women’s kit for the new season.

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