England Women's Hockey breaks stereotype with innovative skort and shorts combo

In a historic move, the England women's hockey unit hovers to accomplish a groundbreaking transition in their attire on the field. Pioneering transformation, they are adopting a novel mix of skorts and shorts for their playing kit.

Underneath the freshly coined guidelines, players are now endowed with the flexibility to select among a skirt, a skort (a fusion of a skirt with incorporated shorts underneath), and shorts, provided that they cling to similar colour and design specifications.

While the International Hockey Federation (FIH) had earlier ratified the use of skorts and shorts, the amalgamation of both within a single team had remained outlawed.

Integral to this transformative evolution is Tess Howard, a prominent component of the England and Great Britain Hockey teams. Pulling from her detailed research, she discovered a crucial concern—70% of women emphasised that young girls often dumped participation in school sports due to concerns tied to their attire and body image. Astonishingly, 60% of schoolgirls expressed a resonant desire for extended "choice," particularly favouring the option to don shorts.

This captivating disclosure galvanized the formulation of all-encompassing ordinances controlling playing kits, which debuted at the beginning of the UK's domestic hockey season.

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England women's hockey: FIH rules updated after GB Squad's kit advocacy

In a significant turn of affairs, April noticed a Great Britain squad internal contemplation, pinnacling in forceful outreach by team leader Hollie Pearne-Webb MBE ACMA CGMA and CEO Nick Pink to the FIH. Their vibrant request appealed to the global review of kit rules.

The fruits of England women's hockey drudgery thrived in June, as the FIH Board decisively voted to amend its ordinances, expressly allowing the donning of skorts and shorts in matching colour and design by partners of the same team.

This paradigm modification pursues the imprint of a kindred shift in England's football kit, in trial for the FIFA Women's World Cup. The Lionesses made a consequential choice to wear blue shorts in lieu of white, a move encouraged by England women's hockey players' open conversations about problems related to menses.