A Sheffield student has launched a campaign to provide free sports bras and fittings in schools, aiming to tackle what she describes as an ‘unspoken’ barrier discouraging girls from participating in sports. 

Rosie Halsall, 18, from Sheffield, won first place in a youth policy-writing competition run by Politika, a non-profit organisation aimed at getting more young people engaged in politics.

Miss Halsall, also a former Team GB roller derby skater, says she was fortunate to be part of a female-dominated sport but realised that many girls in other sports didn’t have the same support or access to essential kit.

She said: “I had a really positive experience of sport, my parents were really supportive and although I always bought sports bras secondhand, I always had access to them.

‘’I remember growing up in school and knowing girls who didn’t have access to sports bras, who didn’t enjoy doing PE, who really struggled getting engaged in sport.

‘’Often girls playing things like football had much less opportunities to play sport than I did and they constantly talked about how the boys team gets priority.’’

Miss Halsall says the issue goes beyond comfort, stressing that properly fitted sports bras are crucial for girls’ physical health both now and in the long term.

She said: ‘’A lot of people have been focusing on the social injustice around it and girls and boys participation in sport. But to me, this is a public health policy. 

‘’This is how we prevent older women having higher rates of osteoporosis than men. Women have the rates of osteoporosis of around one in two when they’re older, for men it’s around one in five.

‘’Getting women active when they’re younger not only means they will remain active, but the bone mass and the muscle mass they get in their adolescence is really important in predicting their health when they age.’’

She also highlighted the broader social impact of the campaign, arguing that access to sport and essential kit shouldn’t be dictated by gender or family income. 

Miss Halsall said: ‘’A lot of people think, ‘oh, it’s a parent’s responsibility to make sure that your kids can get into sport’ and they see sport as a luxury.

‘’I think it’s really, really important that sport is not a luxury. Exercising is not a luxury. It is something that you need to have a basic standard of living.’’ 

While her campaign has attracted widespread media coverage, Miss Halsall has also been met with online backlash and sexist comments which she describes as ‘harrowing’.

She said: ‘’Not only are people rejecting this policy because they don’t see it’s fair to boys and don’t acknowledge that sports bras are really important to girls, but men and women feel it’s okay to attack me on how I dress or on my family. 

‘’The amount of people who make comments like ‘oh, she just spends all her money on handbags and makeup’ completely plays into this idea of dumb women, which has been really frustrating to see.’’

Despite the challenges, Miss Halsall has received strong support from her school, family, roller derby team and her first roller derby coach, Vicki Wilson. 

Miss Halsall is now planning a pilot of her initiative in Sheffield schools, aiming to track girls’ participation in sports before and after the campaign is introduced. 

She hopes this pilot, starting with her own school, will provide a blueprint for a national rollout of her campaign. 

In January, she is scheduled to meet her local MP to discuss potential policy support, and has already had meetings with the Sheffield United Football Foundation and sports bra company PEBE.

Having been inspired by strong women in her sport and at her local gym, Miss Halsall now hopes to be a role model herself, encouraging young girls to speak up and stand up for what they believe is right.

She said: ‘’As a woman, as a girl, don’t be afraid to make noise. Don’t make yourself smaller, you deserve as much space as any other person.

‘’If you’re making a campaign, just don’t be afraid. People will critique you, that will always happen, but keep going if you genuinely think it’s an important issue. Don’t shut up.’’