Big Ideas,
Real Impact.

The barrier is real. The fix is in reach.

Across the country, girls start school sports at lower rates than boys and drop out at roughly twice the rate by age 14. Vermont follows that same pattern. Many factors drive it — but feedback from Vermont female student-athletes points to a quieter, modifiable cause: uniform design and menstruation-related anxiety.

The evidence is now specific. A peer-reviewed analysis of women's major-tournament soccer matches from 2002–2023 found that teams wearing white shorts averaged 0.32 to 0.37 fewer points per game than teams in darker shorts, after controlling for team strength. No equivalent effect appears in men's soccer. An Adidas / UEFA survey found that 65% of people who menstruate name period leaking as their number-one concern while playing sport. A 2024 Youth Sport Trust study found that six in ten girls fear playing sport because of period leaks. The National Women's Soccer League removed white shorts from its 2024 uniform lineup in direct response to this evidence.

Vermont can act on it too. National Federation of State High School Associations rules already permit non-white uniform bottoms across every girls' sport — soccer, basketball, field hockey, lacrosse, volleyball, softball. The change isn't a fight with NFHS; it's a more student-centered standard the rules already allow. With a $20,000 NFHS Foundation grant, the Vermont Principals' Association is partnering with The GRL Initiative to put that standard into practice across a cohort of Vermont middle and high schools — paired with the products and education that make the policy real for the families who need it most. As of October 2024, 61.4% of Vermont public school students were eligible for free or reduced-price meals (Vermont Agency of Education, 2024). A policy that removes a visibility-linked anxiety only to replace it with a cost barrier fails on equity. This grant is built so the policy and the support arrive together.