US women’s football team Orlando Pride have announced it will change the team’s white shorts to make players feel more comfortable when playing while on their period.
Orlando Pride had previously had white shorts as part of their second kit, but players will now wear black following the change.
Midfielder Erika Tymrak said the club had made a ‘big step’ by approving the change.
The reasons behind not wanting to wear white shorts are clear, but it is, unfortunately, something that hasn’t been addressed until recently,’ Tymrak said.
‘I think it’s a big step for us as a Club to make players feel comfortable and allow us to focus solely on competing.’
Pride have become the first NWSL team to update to dark shorts due to period concerns, with the club hoping to remove the ‘stigma involved in discussing health issues impacting women’.
Orlando Pride highlighted statistics from the Women’s Sports Foundation, which state that by the age of 14, girls drop out of sports at twice the rate of boys with puberty a contributing factor.
Pride said all girls teams within the club’s youth structure will also wear dark shorts for both practice and games.
The NWSL club said the standard that will remain moving forward to reflect the change, having vowed to provide ‘first-class player experience and care’.
Orlando Pride are the latest organisation to make the change.
The All England Club announced in November it had relaxed its ban on women players wearing coloured underwear at Wimbledon.
The club confirmed its unique all-white rule will be modified for this year’s tournament following calls from players.
