'I'd be brave enough to change': Jo Harten would love to play Super Netball in something other than a dress

Jo Harten has spent close to 20 years playing netball at the top level.

The English shooter’s career began in the UK Super League in 2006, saw her head to New Zealand in 2012 and then across the ditch in 2017 to land where she is now, playing with the Giants in Australia.

Before her international retirement last year, Harten was also a force to be reckoned with for the Roses, making her debut at the age of 18 in 2007, going on to represent England at three World Cups and winning a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2018.

In all that time, Harten says she has never been able to play in anything other than a dress, and that netball really needs to broaden its options.

“I’ve only ever played a professional game in a dress,” Harten told ABC Sport.

“Behind the scenes, I’ve been having chats with back off the house staff at Giants, trying to push for a more inclusive uniform policy.

“I think, the broader options we can have as a uniform, the more people it will attract, because it doesn’t have to be one body type playing this sport.

“We should be looking at people of all different sizes, ethnicities, styles of hair, because essentially, that is what makes a global game and the more we can be inclusive, the better.”

The Giants co-captain’s thoughts come at a timely point in the Super Netball calendar, as the league looks to celebrate Inclusion Round this weekend.

Most clubs have focused on a pride theme and the Giants, who will play away in round four, have opted to wear rainbow bibs to show their support for the LGBTQIA+ community.

But the round is an opportunity for netball to be celebrated as a sport for everyone — which feeds into uniforms too — as each team shines a spotlight on something that best aligns with their values.

In 2020, the findings of a state of the game review, chaired by Diamonds legend and new board member Liz Ellis, were made public.

It listed a range of recommendations that netball should consider if it wanted to maintain its status at the number one women and girls sport in Australia.

One of these recommendations highlighted how a lack of flexibility in uniforms was proving to be a barrier to many in the community taking up, or continuing their involvement in, netball.

A year later, Netball NSW – who own the Giants – were the first member organisation to launch a groundbreaking range of apparel alongside Valour Sport, offering netballers participating at a community level in the state the option to wear dresses still if they wanted to, but also singlets, bodysuits, short sleeve or long sleeve tops, shorts and long pants.

This move was backed by Netball Australia and encouraged the national sporting body to follow suit ahead of 2023, updating its uniform policy to cater for all participants with various individual preferences and religious beliefs. These guidelines were adopted by all member organisations.

Although these changes have filtered down into community netball, we’re still yet to see a drastic change at the top in Super Netball.

Various teams have opted to wear a pant and top option for the pre-season Team Girls Cup, but none have swayed from the typical dress in the official competition.

Harten says its something she’d like to see incorporated.

“The wider range of choices you have at a professional level will help the grassroots,” Harten said.

“This has got to be a wider-community thing, you don’t just want one area of the game doing one thing and everyone else doing it differently, so I think it needs to start at all levels to open up the game to everyone.”

Netball Australia has confirmed that their uniform policy extends to the season proper and that Super Netball is supportive of players making this choice if they wish to, but it is up to the clubs to submit their kits for approval, more so from a sponsor, name and number perspective.

Which explains why Harten has been so active in this space behind the scenes at the Giants, trying to make it happen.

In a statement provided to ABC Sport, Giants executive general manager Tim Underwood said the club was supportive of Harten’s goals in this area but didn’t put a time frame on when they expect to see them actioned.

“We’re committed to being an inclusive and open club and we want people to always feel comfortable playing or watching netball,” Underwood said.

“We support Jo’s suggestion to extend inclusive uniform options into the Super Netball competition and we’d love our athletes to have a range of choices in terms of the uniforms they can wear at the elite level.

“As a club we want to work with Netball Australia to continue the discussions around inclusive uniforms at all levels and to have ongoing conversations about how we can continue to be more inclusive in all areas of our sport.

“We have recently extended our partnership with Valour Sport, who are leading the way in this space across the pathway and grassroots netball competitions in New South Wales.”

When ABC Sport spoke with other captains at the 2024 season launch, the rest expressed their desire to keep playing in a dress, as it was what they had always done, felt most comfortable in and said it was a good way to differentiate training from game day.

But unsurprisingly, given her thoughts on expanding the Giants options, Harten says she is one of the players that would probably switch from a dress to pants and top if it was a possibility.

“If it was an option, I think I’d be brave enough to change,” Harten said.

“There’d be other players that would still want to be uniform and stay the same as it has always been, but I’m all about change.

“I’m all about taking a little risk for the greater good and I think it’d be a really positive thing for the sport if we could get to that place.”