Women's sport went professional more than 40 years ago and yet it is still heavily unfunded and supported. At the same time female players are much more vulnerable to injury due to the lack of available and suitable protective equipment, a direct result of the gender bias built into existing products.

That's until a young Australian design student came along. Bronti was fed up with cutting up her brother's hand-me-down tackle vests and decided to design her own for her HSC major design project.  She focused her energy on ending this catch 22 of 'no need / because no demand' and began creating a solution that would reduce the risk of breast injuries, simultaneously dismantling a social bias and a key barrier to participation in women's contact sports here in Australia.

Bronti posted her idea on IdeaSpies as a result of a new UpRising Initiative in NSW schools in 2021. The initiative was created to allow HSC design students to broadcast their major design idea and get useful comments to help develop it. Bronti's Post generated many helpful comments and caught the attention of the major Australian clothing and apparel company, Bonds / Hanes. Their R&D department was able to find out more about her project through the UpRising initiative. 

The UpRising initiative made it easy for Bronti and many other design students from all over NSW to connect with businesses and industry. The initiative gives students access to mentoring opportunities and expertise, whilst allowing businesses the chance to give back to support the grassroots of innovation, not to mention identify early talent. 

Through the trust and belief that Bonds held in the wisdom that valuable ideas can come from anywhere, this high school student was given the chance to negotiate a consultancy contract with the company and she is now cooperating with Bonds in designing and manufacturing the product.  This collaboration will have a future impact on the Australian culture & economy as Australia plays host for the Rugby World Cup in 2029 

By Richard Hainsworth

Design and Technology Teacher

Founder of UpRising