Women's athletics kit dilemma

Well I have to admit that I would never wear what basically amount to knickers in full public view.

Sport isn't about being 'fun and sexy', it's about being as good as you possibly can be and what you wear to cover your arse isn't part of that. Seriously, what you wear the the most trivial part of sporting activity.

Well I have to admit that I would never wear what basically amount to knickers in full public view.

I think you're being unfair, some people just won't be comfortable wearing such skimpy clothing and you're putting them in a really difficult position by insisting on them wearing them.

Sport isn't about being 'fun and sexy', it's about being as good as you possibly can be and what you wear to cover your arse isn't part of that. Seriously, what you wear the the most trivial part of sporting activity.

I would say just let them wear what they want to, in time they may decide to switch to the briefs anyway, but if you force them into something they feel deeply uncomfortable with then they'll resent you for it.

Honestly, this whole situation looks like a mountain made out of a mole hill, if most people are happy to wear them let them, but you shouldn't force people to wear things that make them feel uncomfortable.

So my advice is to ask the couple of girls who are anti the new uniform to give it a try, I bet they will be fine with it once they've got over their initial nerves. No way would I give them the choice of wearing shorts because if they have the option they will never get past that initial self consciousness enough to try the briefs.

This is the kind of kit we've got in mind: . It isn't all that revealing, I can't see why anyone would object to wearing it.

I find it odd that you say you can't understand why there would be objections to wearing those brief things whilst running in public... If you want to make a uniform mandatory, then fine, but you must understand that some may drop out because of it. I wouldn't wear tiny pants in public.

Emma, are you thinking of letting the team wear T-shirts over their briefs, like the girl in the green and black outfit? It seems to me a pretty good compromise as it means midriffs can be covered up, but without having to allow the wearing of shorts.

Firstly I made a bit of a gaffe, the get-together was Saturday night not Friday so I had a bit of a false start . Secondly I tried the suggestion of vest tops rather than sports bras. One of the two girls that so far has said no to the knickers said she'd be OK with them if she could wear a less revealing top but the other wouldn't budge. Then several of the field event girls said they really wanted the sports bras. I know where they're coming from, if you're doing a pole vault for instance, any loose clothing that hangs down and could brush against the bar could make the difference between success and failure and they're used to wearing this kind of kit.

One girl had an iPad with her and we went onto a few websites that sell athletics kit and in the end we found a company that does the vests but with lycra in them so they're form-fitting. They also customise them so we thought we'd order them long enough to cover up midriffs and maybe the tops of people's butts, like the girl in the white top in my post from Thursday. We also chose the briefs, good quality Nike ones, and everyone was looking forward to looking really professional as a team, even the one girl who had previously been adamant she would never compete in pants but had changed her mind due to the vests.

Then everyone started trying to cheer up the girl who was still saying she didn't want to run in knickers, only shorts, but she stormed off in a huff. Nobody has heard from her since then, so we're not sure what to think. She is the only person we've got who has been in a relay team at any serious level before so it would be nice to keep her in the team, but I'm not sure it's going to happen . She doesn't want the same as everyone else and doesn't seem at all flexible in going with the majority, so maybe she wouldn't have been much of a team player so perhaps it isn't a big loss.

OK so there are a handful of top international athletes who compete in baggy shorts, like the one you've highlighted. I don't know but maybe she's from Kenya or some other country where there are religious restrictions on what women can wear.

You asked me to read back the bit in bold. I don't see what's unusual about it: 'she doesn't want the same as everyone else and doesn't seem at all flexible in going with the majority'. That's true. The girl who stormed out of the bar and isn't returning calls/texts is now in a minority of one and won't go with the choices the rest of us made for what kit we would order the team. Unless she changes her mind, she's going to be excluded from the team as a result. Whose fault? 100% hers!

Why do you talk about nightclubs? Obviously I wouldn't wear a bikini to one, but then I also wouldn't wear a baggy old tracksuit, I think it's courteous to dress according to the circumstances. In summer athletics, track and field events, competing between universities, most girls wear crop tops and either hot pants or briefs. We've gone for fitted vests/T-shirts and briefs, our uniform will be less revealing than a lot of the teams we'll be competing with.

It's either one way or the other, it's not a matter of flexibility. Look, I just cannot see any justification for why she cannot wear shorts (of the same colour to the briefs you've chosen) which come up to the top of the things.

The main reason is that we're trying to get one standard uniform that everyone wears and not the half a dozen variations on a theme that passed for a kit last year. So either everyone is in shorts or we're all in briefs, and more people want briefs than shorts, plus they're better for performance.