NZ women swap white shorts for blue over period anxieties

NZF’s decision follows similar moves by the England women’s team, clubs including Manchester City and the Ireland women’s rugby team.

FILE PHOTO: New Zealand will wear the new kit in friendlies against Iceland on Friday and Nigeria next week and at the Women’s World Cup | Photo Credit: Getty Images

The New Zealand women’s football team will swap their home kit’s white shorts for teal blue to ease players’ period anxieties, the country’s football association (NZF) said on Monday.

New Zealand will wear the kit in friendlies against Iceland on Friday and Nigeria next week and at the Women’s World Cup, which it will co-host with Australia from July 20 to August 20.

“The absence of white shorts now is fantastic for women with any kind of period anxiety,” New Zealand striker Hannah Wilkinson said.

“It’s always something that women athletes, not just footballers have had to deal with. In the end it just helps us focus more on performance and shows a recognition and appreciation of women’s health.”

NZF’s decision follows similar moves by the England women’s team, clubs including Manchester City and the Ireland women’s rugby team.

“It’s really important to us as players,” said England’s Lauren Hemp. “It’s been in discussions for many years and it’s important that we feel confident whilst playing and this is a massive step in the right direction.

“We can feel comfortable when sometimes we might not have been if it’s your time in the month, so it’s great to move away from white shorts to not having that worry,” added Hemp, a forward for Manchester City, who have also done away with white shorts. “We can just concentrate on the games at hand.”

Former England player Anita Asante said the move from white shorts has been discussed probably “for generations”.

“As women, we’ve all experienced those moments where we’re uncomfortable. You’re going through your menstrual cycle and you’ve got to perform,” said Asante.

“I’ve experienced that as an international player, and you just sort of got on with it because it wasn’t something that was discussed and it wasn’t something that you felt you could change.”

Asante, who retired from the Lionesses in 2018 after 14 years, believes the move will encourage more young girls to stay in sports.

“If it has the kind of knock-on effect that we’d like to see where all clubs are thinking about that in a massive way,” she said.

New Zealand’s chief executive Andrew Pragnell said that as an organisation, “New Zealand Football wholeheartedly supports the shift away from white shorts for our women’s international players.”