Sports Law Clinic

Increasing Access for Girls & Women in Sport; Preventing Injury: The Sports Bra Problem

This unique Clinic seeks to address the under-researched, but vitally important barrier to active participation by girls and women in sports: the difficulty in finding and paying for properly supportive sports bra. Project Play/Aspen Institute has documented that girls stop playing sports more frequently at puberty than their male peers. It has been established that sports participation is vital for developing important physical, mental and emotional skills including teamwork, leadership, and good life habits. Girls and young women who do not play sports are at a higher risk of failing to complete secondary education, enter college, or obtain fulfilling employment. They are also more likely to suffer from substance abuse, domestic violence, and chronic health care issues such as diabetes. 

Unfortunately, even girls and women who do participate in sports often cannot obtain sports bras that are sufficiently supportive, which may contribute to their decision to leave sport. Those who continue to play are at higher risk than their male peers for ACL injuries due to differences in biomechanics when "landing". See https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37917960/ ACL tears are serious injuries which can lead to lifelong consequences. 

Moreover, the vast majority of sports participation data generated by "wearables" such as the Apple Watch, is based entirely upon male subjects. It is well documented that women's injury risk varies depending upon their menstrual cycle, as well as whether and the type of birth control medication they are taking. However, there is a dearth of information about the impact any of these has upon safe sports participation by women because of the lack of a database on women's healthy participation in sport in general. 

Consequently, it is imperative that further research be undertaken to: 1) develop a series of sufficiently supportive sports bras ranging from puberty to pregnancy and breastfeeding; 2) generate data to identify best practices for healthy participation for girls and women in sports; 3) develop policy relying upon the research to increase access to healthy participation for girls and women of all ages.