Two students are urging any girls considering quitting sport due to concerns over PE equipment or to know they are not alone.
Grace and Mollie, from Maghull High School, take part in a BBC Bitesize documentary exploring how this fear leads some girls to quit sport.
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The Women in Sport charity says around 64% of girls quit sport by the age of 16.
Grace and Molly said their message to other girls is that “we all go through this eventually” and that anyone with concerns should talk to a friend or a trusted adult.
Girls in Sport: Breaking Down Barriers, presented by Kimberley Boak, explores what is being done to address this issue and encourage more girls to continue playing sport.
Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside, Grace and Molly said they wanted to help overcome the taboo that still exists about discussing the period in sport.
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Molly, who plays soccer, said she felt girls needed to be more confident and believe they could play sports, regardless of obstacles.
“You shouldn’t let it bother you. Don’t let it get in the way,” she said.
“Think about it, everyone is going through this, but that’s not the case [only you] Even though it may feel that way. “
Grace said she felt there was a lack of confidence in girls’ sports at school.
She said that by talking about this, she and Molly were “stepping out of our comfort zones and advocating for it because it’s a powerful message.”
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She urged girls to talk to their friends or a trusted adult at school if they have any concerns about participating in sports.
Beth Mead talks about having her period during Euro 2025 [PA Media]
British hockey player Tess Howard said the documentary looked at breaking down barriers affecting girls in the UK.
She said it was about “realizing that at some point we’re all likely to start having our period, so that doesn’t mean you can’t participate” [in sport]”.
Howard said lioness Beth Mead had spoken about her period while attending the Euros earlier this year and “obviously we know what’s going on – very well, so we need to have solutions in place”.
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She said: “For the past three years I have been campaigning for the choice and inclusion of sports equipment, as well as my own sport, and now we have the option to wear shorts at hockey games.”
Professor Kirsty Elliott-Sale, from Manchester Metropolitan University’s School of Sport, said it was important that menstrual products were available in schools and that toilet breaks were taken into account when girls were exercising outdoors.
“If we were all on the same page and it was no longer taboo, if there was no stigma, then I think that would really help,” she said.
Lorraine Warwick-Ellis, who has been coaching the under-16s side at Ella Toone’s former club Astley and Tyldesley FC, said the team had disbanded as girls quit.
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She said she believed there were a number of factors behind this, including the added issue of some girls choosing to give up sport to take GCSEs.
In terms of sports equipment, she said many league teams wear black shorts, but this is not mandatory and girls can wear whatever they feel comfortable with, such as leggings.
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