Women’s sports teams have adapted specific hairstyles that athletes wear during games, meets or while cheering from the sidelines. With the increasing highlight of women’s sports, these athletes have shared their go-to hairstyles to inspire and influence other female athletes. Variations of braids, ponytails and buns allow these athletes to perform their sport without distraction while still maintaining style.
In the fall it is football and cheerleading season. While cheerleaders do change their game day hair depending on the game’s theme or occasion, teammates most often wear a curled half up half down style.
Another popular hairstyle are braid variations, specifically two french braids.
“I love having two french braids because it keeps the hair out of my face while cheering,” WHS cheer team member Sophia Demelo said.
However, braiding can be difficult to do, so other teammates help out by doing athletes’ hair. Many teams will have a dedicated “team braider” who will do everyone’s hair.
Field hockey athletes have adapted hairstyles they found best for their game. A pony-tail with a braid or just a bun is the most popular hairstyle for these athletes. The slicked hairstyle provides comfort for field hockey players, getting the hair out of their face and neck during intense games.
“I think the most common hairstyle worn for my sport would be a bun. I prefer to have my hair with a braid or bun, but a bun is usually better,” WHS field hockey athlete Zeeva Feinstein said. “We have no assigned hairstyles but varsity will often coordinate and have the same hairstyle,” Feinstein said. It is common in many sports to coordinate specific hairstyles for everyone on the team.
Track athletes also have a specific hairstyle worn on meet days. At practice, athletes usually wear just a ponytail. On meet days, the team braider takes on the task of braiding several of the athlete’s hair, adding ribbons for extra style. The ribbons can represent town colors, specific events or other fun colors athletes choose.
Track athlete Sydney Dias is now preparing for freshman nationals after a great first season at WHS.
“The hair style for track is two dutch braids into a ponytail,” Dias said. Most athletes also add an additional ribbon on the ponytail.”
During one meet, the track athletes wore red and white ribbons in support for the terminal illness ALS. During most meets WHS students wear blue and orange ribbons for town spirit. The blue and orange ribbons are worn at every meet.
Girls lacrosse wear goggles where the boys wear helmets. The female athletes have found specific hairstyles that work with both the goggles and stay throughout the game. Freshman Nicky Mahoney has been playing lacrosse since the 1st grade and is going into her first year of playing lacrosse at WHS.
“The most common hairstyle in lacrosse is a high ponytail. I prefer to wear a high ponytail or a high ponytail with braids going into it,” Mahoney said.
In lacrosse you can choose your own hairstyle and many of the team members do their own hair. Players focus on what is most comfortable for their helmet instead of style like cheer.
Basketball playoffs have begun and the WHS varsity girls team is continuing to compete. Throughout the season, the girls have selected fun hairstyles or hair accessories to help raise team spirit. For a game dedicated to the Morgans Message Non-Profit Corporation, everyone on the team wore teal ribbons in their ponytails to represent their sport for athletes’ mental health. The most common way to style their hair would be a high ponytail. This year, the girls varsity basketball team added tinsel to their hair for playoffs to increase team spirit.
“For the playoffs, we all have matching blue hair tinsel. Otherwise for the regular season it was pretty much up to us what we wanted to do with our hair,” WHS girls basketball athlete Jillian Bissonnette said. “I personally prefer to do a ponytail for my games because it keeps the hair out of my face and does not bother me while I’m playing.”
Although sports have adopted specific hairstyles, there are many other different styles perfect for sports. Bubble braids, two french braids, or any kind of braids into a ponytail. Another type of braid is a fishtail braid where you take small strands from your ponytail crossing them over creating layers.
Female athletes have adopted many different hairstyles for their sport. Cheer, field hockey, track, lacrosse and basketball all have hairstyles they prefer. These hairstyles help them perform their best and promote team spirit.
