Limitless potential - sports bras for teenage girls
Here at We are Girls in Sport we know that there are lots of girls and young women out there who want to play sport but who are coming up against barriers. There are many obstacles that girls face when it comes to playing sport and being active: there’s the lack of accessibility, perhaps having to join in with the boys, feeling sweaty and uncomfortable, and trying to participate with an ever-changing body shape. We think it’s great that we’ve discovered one company that has decided to help with that last barrier, providing teenage girls with some sports kit of their very own and the support they need to persevere.
Photo credit - Limitless
The research
Limitless usually make school sportswear and as a partner of Youth Sport Trust, they leveraged their research and performed their own survey of teenage girls regarding sports’ kit. The results were really interesting and one of the main findings was that many girls don’t wear sports’ specific bras when participating in sport or activity. Not wearing a sports bra impacted their level of involvement and levels of enjoyment and ultimately, how much they wanted to participate.
This research is backed up elsewhere: St. Mary’s University interviewed more than 2,000 girls aged between 11-17, The Daily Telegraph reported last year, and found that around half didn’t participate in sport because of their breasts. Only 10% of girls wore a sports bra every time they played sport whilst 50% replied that they’d never worn a sports bra.
Former professional footballer, Eartha Pond emphatically adds to this by saying that access to sports bras is the one simple thing that would improve uptake in sport by teenage girls:
We have all these lists. Your child must have this, this and this. They also need a sports bra for PE. We often talk about confidence and self-esteem. I see girls who would slide on concrete when they arrive at school and their confidence has gone by the time they reach year eight or nine. They are worried about people looking at them.
Photo credit - Limitless
How does the Limitless bra work?
The research and survey prompted Limitless to design a bra that works for sporty teenage girls.
• It’s designed to be able to be worn discreetly throughout the day - so under school shirts or dresses - which avoids the need for the potential embarrassment of changing in front of classmates.
• It can be easily tightened so that it provides adequate support when participating in exercise or activity but then loosened for the rest of the day for a more relaxed fit.
• The Limitless bra adapts to the girl as she grows or as her body changes during her monthly cycle.
• It has a zip at the front so it’s quick and easy to put on with no fiddling round at the back.
• It looks great!
I have kindly been gifted one and I can vouch for its comfort too! It comes in a lovely little drawstring bag, which would make it easy to throw into a kit bag if you didn’t want to wear it all day (I have worn mine all day and it was really comfy, much comfier than other sports bras I own) and there are instructions on how to wear it for sport and then wear it whilst in lessons, or in my case work!
Photo credit Limitless
As one of our key objectives is to encourage more girls to continue playing sport throughout their adolescence, we loved chatting to Limitless and hearing about their passion for breaking down this particular barrier.
Check out our social media for a competition to win a Limitless bra!