Ugh. This happened to me when I was 12 and playing on a boys travel team. One of the WORST days of my life. Only upside is that I think most of the boys just thought I was injured. I nearly quit the team after the incident.

So this is a very uncomfortable thread. Can we just trash BRYC OR VYS again?

Mom of former travel soccer player here -- white shorts were the absolute worst thing for my daughter. All of you women here who think that every girl menstruates the same, wears (or should wear) the same sanitary product, or has the same level of comfort with dealing with unexpected bleeds should be ashamed of yourselves! My daughter suffered a great deal of anxiety when her cycle was about to come, and she realized she had to wear white shorts. Not every girl on her team felt that way. She would have experienced great relief had a thought to the realities and needs of adolescent girls been factored into her team's kit color choice.

This is a deeply strange thread. I’m unclear as to why parents or a girl can’t figure out how to have the kid wear a pad or a tampon during her period. In the very unlikely event that a girl unexpectedly has a bleed through with a white uniform, hopefully it could easily be handled by a quick mention during a substitution. Seems like the odds of white shorts causing embarrassment would be minuscule.

Anonymous wrote:DD always had white shorts in her kit. The appropriate size tampon changed right before the game solves the problem. Who runs around wearing pads anyways?

It might solve the problem; it might not. For one thing, tampons don't work for everyone -- certainly not initially. (Keep in mind that these days, ten year olds might be menstruating! Or eleven. There is a wide range.) There's a learning curve for this like there is for everything else.

Also, for many teens, for the first few years, timing and flow is unpredictable.

That said, we've had really good results here with Thinx -- much more comfortable than pads and they don't shift around so leaking is less of a problem. DD uses them for sports for light days and as "backup""

But yeah we would prefer not to have white shorts all thinx considered

DD always had white shorts in her kit. The appropriate size tampon changed right before the game solves the problem. Who runs around wearing pads anyways?

I know. This is awful.

My DD's team wears shorts under the shorts, so that is three layers. Hopefully, that will do the trick even though that is not the purpose of the multiple layers.

Anonymous wrote:I personally would be mortified and I'm 43.

Yep! And I'm pretty had to embarrass. But that would do it.

I hadn't thought of this but after reading I am VERY grateful we're a dark shorts club! One less thing.

I personally would be mortified and I'm 43.

Anonymous wrote:I have seen girls play with leaks and not let it slow them down at all. Good for them and good example to set. Mine would be embarrassed bit she shouldn't be. So what. Girls menstruate.

And they probably were absolutely mortified when they later discovered what had happened.

Anonymous wrote:I have seen girls play with leaks and not let it slow them down at all. Good for them and good example to set. Mine would be embarrassed bit she shouldn't be. So what. Girls menstruate.

As a (female) referee, I'd have to send the girl out of the game if I saw that...can't have any blood on a uniform anywhere.
Sure, it's a natural thing and they shouldn't be embarrassed, but no girl should have to have people watching her as she's walking of the field because she's leaking.
I was a free spirit and confident in my body as a teen, but I would have found that utterly mortifying anyway.

Anonymous wrote:I have seen girls play with leaks and not let it slow them down at all. Good for them and good example to set. Mine would be embarrassed bit she shouldn't be. So what. Girls menstruate.

That's a great attitude but the reality is most girls will be embarrassed by this. Agree with OP that this is an easy thing to totally eliminate as an issue.

I have seen girls play with leaks and not let it slow them down at all. Good for them and good example to set. Mine would be embarrassed bit she shouldn't be. So what. Girls menstruate.

This topic came up at our club this summer and the only people arguing against white shorts were rec moms on our volunteer board (whose kids wouldn’t even wear the shorts). The middle aged men and travel moms saw no problem with the white shorts and were annoyed with the rec moms because as one man mentioned to me later, they don’t understand the look of soccer kits and should just stick to rec issues and in house no one cares how the kid is dressed. I agreed with the rec moms but it seemed like a done deal so I just didn’t say anything, my child’s coached was in favor of the white shorts. I do not like them.

Club leadership ... why so few kits with black or navy shorts? My U13 started menstruating this past summer and is anxious about leaking out on her game day kit. Might sound like a small thing to you, but at an age when girls are leaving organized sports for so many reasons, a uniform that won't camouflage inevitable leaks while menstruating is an easy thing to take off the table. It's hard enough finding a uniform that fits when boys ("unisex") large is too tight through the chest and men's small is too big in the waist. White shorts (or yellow or royal blue ...) are making this harder than necessary.