Tess Howard, who was made an MBE for services to inclusive sportswear for women and girls on Wednesday, revealed that the Princess Royal was “surprised” when the East Grinstead and GB forward told her she had needed to campaign to wear shorts to play hockey.
Howard, who has set up Inclusive Sportswear CIC, said that while she was “very honoured” by the award, which she received during an investiture ceremony at Windsor, it felt “premature”.
The 26-year-old said: “If I had an organisation like Inclusive Sportswear I wouldn’t have had to campaign for years to wear shorts in hockey, which is bizarre.
“The Princess Royal was surprised that I had to campaign to wear shorts. It’s silly when you say it out loud.
“It’s quite ridiculous that I’ve been given an award essentially for campaigning to wear shorts.”
The FIH changed its ruling in 2023 to give women’s teams the choice between wearing skirts, skorts and shorts.
And Howard says her work is only just beginning.
“My slogan is kind of, let’s fix this and move on with our lives,” she said.
Many congratulations to Tessa. She has shown the same determination in changing the UK Hockey regulations as we see every week when she is playing up front for East Grinstead. Well done Tess!… and by the way, we love the “head gear”.
As a female solicitor, the first time I was allowed to wear trousers in court was in 1995. I can’t believe it has taken nearly 30 years for the sport of hockey to catch up. Be proud of your achievement.