Quote:It’s not just elite women athletes whose uniforms make them feel awkward and uneasy. By age 16, nearly two-thirds of girls in the United Kingdom have lost interest in sports — citing fear of judgment and a lack of confidence as two of the main reasons. Sports uniforms are a contributing factor. In the United States, girls drop sports at a rate about twice that of boys.

Howard and her team got the company to redesign the uniform after about a year of trying, swapping the constricting top for a looser one. For Howard, it was a turning point. “That’s when I realized it doesn’t have to be this way,” she said.

At the Paris Olympics, she got the team to offer shorts as an option in addition to the skort — and she became the first woman Olympic field hockey player to score in shorts. Her story garnered public attention, and changes large and small followed, including Irish Camogie players winning the right to wear shorts after boycotting play and the French Gymnastics Federation allowing shorts over leotards for gymnasts.

Howard used her experience as impetus for her studies, publishing her dissertation at Durham University in the U.K. on gendered uniforms and girls’ participation in sport. Her published research found that lack of choice in uniform design was a significant reason girls dropped out of athletics during puberty.