London Mavericks are main a ‘say no to the gown’ netball equipment revolution
London Mavericks are the first Netball Super League team to offer leggings, skorts, and shorts as kit options for their players
London Mavericks are powering a kit revolution in netball
Swapping a dress for leggings might seem like a minor change but London Mavericks are hoping to launch a revolution in netball kit.
For as long as netball has been played, those on the court have been decked out in dresses, but Mavericks have changed that ahead of the new Netball Super League season.
They have introduced a ground-breaking range of new outfits including shorts, skorts and leggings, with England international Razia Quashie confident that other teams will follow suit in a move that could attract lots of new faces to the sport.
She explained: “I am a bigger player, bigger in body and for me it’s nice because I train in leggings all year round.
“My legs are one of my insecurities because they are very muscular. So it’s quite hard to train in leggings and then rock up on game day and have to switch into a dress.
“It’s quite nice to have that choice, if I’m on my period or I’m not feeling it, to have that option.
“I think it’s such a bold move from us and for me being a teacher at a school and coaching, seeing the girls who want to wear shorts but it’s reserved for the footballers, it’s quite nice for them to see me as a role model.
“You don’t need to wear a dress to play netball. It’s one of those things that have been there for 100 years but you want to allow people to come into the sport and the space who might have dropped out ages ago.
“64% of girls drop out by the age of 16 and 58% of girls want to have different options for PE kit. We need to be that change.
“Given the choice, would you play train in a dress every single day? No, we train four or five days a week in shorts or leggings and a top and then on game day, we have to change into a dress. Change isn’t always a bad thing. We have to be creative in the way we innovate the sport and get people to our spaces. We want it to grow and if we stick to what we have, we won’t grow.”
Quashie comes into the new season with London Mavericks looking to make up for lost time.
A quad injury cut short her last campaign as she underwent surgery, the team still making it to the semi-finals before losing to the Manchester Thunder.
It was the latest body blow for Quashie, who has previously had to bounce back from two serious Achilles injuries, and she credits Mavericks assistant coach Mikki Austin for keeping her spirits up.
She explained: “When everyone is playing and you are sat in your room unable to walk and unable to bend your leg because of the surgery, I really want to be healthy on and off court. So that is nutrition, doing my homework and doing all the one percenters and hopefully I’ll be there at the end of the season with the girls.
“I’m very much a negative person and when everyone sees the glass half-full, I see it empty. So having someone like a Mikki when I’m looking at the defence and I haven’t got an intercept, it’s about the deflection and the hustle. You aren’t doing it for you, you are doing it for the others. Having that mindset and type of coach is everything.
“I’m excited to see what we can do out on the court. We built a very good platform last season, being able to be in the top four so I think this year against all the doubt it’s about cementing those partnerships and pushing on when we get the chance.”
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