It is not a question of sizes
The idea that a women's kit is a smaller men's kit starts from an anatomical error. The differences are not of scale, they are structural: hip-to-waist ratio, shoulder width, torso length. A men's S is not a women's S; it is a different garment.
When a garment is not designed for the body wearing it, specific things happen during a game: the shirt you keep having to pull back into place, the shorts that will not stay at the waist, the underwear and the shirt working against each other instead of together. None of that shows up on the scoresheet, but all of it stays.
A documented dropout factor
Karen Korellis Reuther, of the Harvard Graduate School of Design, has described it as a pattern that «ranges from insulting to deadly», because of the injury risk associated with gear that does not support the way it should.
And then there is the part nobody puts in a federation report. Research from Durham University (2025) concludes that the lack of choice in uniform design is a significant factor in girls dropping out of sport during puberty. Ogden's study (2025) found that the recurring theme among former teenage athletes who had quit was constant worry about physical appearance because of the uniform, instead of concentrating on the game.
Translated: some players quit basketball because of the clothes. Not because they are superficial, but because competing while feeling exposed every weekend eventually becomes unsustainable.
The detail nobody talks about
Light-coloured shorts during a period are a real and constant source of anxiety in competition. It is a detail that costs nothing to solve at the design stage —dark fabric for the shorts— and that, if nobody thinks about it, is never solved. That is exactly the difference between designing for someone and designing without them in mind.
What we are doing in the Clot
Every season more than 200 girls, teenagers and women wear the kit of CB Grup Barna. The club is preparing the first collection by a youth club in Catalonia designed specifically for the female body, along three lines of work:
- Patterns from scratch, not shrunk. Cut, sleeves, length and waist designed around real female bodies, with several size prototypes.
- Functional materials and colours. Dark fabric for the shorts, breathable fabric with absorbency and a waistband that does not need readjusting every two minutes.
- Co-creation with the players. Prototypes, testing during training and structured feedback. The people who will wear it decide what it is like.
It is not a commercial operation or a special edition. It is the logical consequence of something simple: you cannot practise structural equality while players compete in clothes that were not designed for them. The full project is explained on the Línia Femenina page.
Frequently asked questions
What does «shrink it and pink it» mean?
It is the sportswear industry's pattern of taking a product designed for men, shrinking the size and, at best, changing the colour to sell it as a women's item.
Why doesn't a small men's kit work?
Because the differences between male and female bodies are not of scale but structural: hip-to-waist ratio, shoulder width and torso length. A men's S is not the same as a women's S.
Can the uniform influence dropout from sport?
Yes. Recent academic research documents that worry about physical appearance because of the uniform is a recurring theme among teenagers who have quit sport, and that the lack of choice in the design is a significant factor.
Why does the colour of the shorts matter?
Because light-coloured shorts during a period create anxiety about visible stains in the middle of a game. Dark fabric solves the problem at no extra cost if it is considered from the design stage.
What is CB Grup Barna's Línia Femenina?
The first kit collection by a youth club in Catalonia designed from scratch for the female body, with new patterns, functional materials and co-creation with the club's players.
Would you like information about the club?
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