The Western Province Cricket Association (WPCA) has taken a meaningful step in affirming the dignity and development of young female athletes. Through its latest initiative at the Victoria Cricket Club, WPCA distributed sanitary towels to players in its Hub Programme, a gesture that speaks reality into inclusion, care, and the often-overlooked realities facing young girls in sport.
But beyond the symbolism of this distribution lies a more pressing truth: access to menstrual hygiene products should not depend on charity or one-off drives. It should be a sustained, built-in commitment for any organisation working with girls from underserved communities.
For many girls, particularly those from disadvantaged areas, the lack of menstrual products means more than discomfort, it translates into missed training sessions, skipped school days, and, over time, lost opportunities to grow and excel. It’s about dignity as much as it is about equity.
As WPCA Cricket Services Manager Clinton du Preez aptly put it, this initiative is “about restoring and protecting dignity.” By meeting such a basic health need, WPCA is affirming that every girl deserves to show up fully, on the cricket field, in the classroom, and in life, without fear, shame, or interruption.
Around 4,000 packs were donated across nine hubs, thanks to the support of partners like Excellence in Life NPC, the Spirit Foundation, Lords Taverners South Africa, SADIP, and WPCC. It’s a message of solidarity, one that underscores that a girl’s well-being and participation in sport are just as critical as her performance.
Still, gestures like these must evolve into long-term policy and cultural practice. Every sports federation, club, and school that works with young women should have a menstrual health plan in place, not as a PR moment, but as a matter of basic infrastructure, because dignity should never be an afterthought.
The WPCA’s initiative sets an example & a reminder that true progress in women’s sport requires not only visibility and funding but also empathy, consistency, and everyday systems of care. Well done to all involved.
