Zena Sport provides the most advanced female breast and rib protection for contact sports, backed by four years’ worth of research and development through the maximum level of sports science tested by Deakin University to greatly reduce the impact across the upper torso with up to 75% of the force being absorbed by the vest.
The vest has also been established to suit the needs of teenagers right through to senior professionals, designed to be worn underneath the playing kit and without visibility.
Speaking with Soccerscene, Zena Sport Co-Founder Donna Johnson shares the importance of protective gear, particularly as more and more women and girls play sport – leading up to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
What inspired you to create your protective gear for women involved in contact sports?
Donna Johnson: The idea for Zena came about over a coffee with a friend. Her daughters had just started playing football and we were discussing injuries that had occurred over the weekend.
It concerned me that adolescent girls were playing high impact sport at such a critical stage of their physical development with o form of chest protection. Given females are anatomically built differently I began doing some research into breast injuries in sport and possible products on the market.
To my surprise there was very little research available and no suitable products on the market. I did my own research project and found that breast injury was in fact occurring and there was a need for a protective garment.
I then spent the next two years designing and developing a vest that was lightweight, comfortable, non-restrictive and protective. The Final Result – ‘Zena Z!’ An impact protection vest for females playing sport.
How can your vest be of assistance to young girls or women taking up soccer?
Donna Johnson: First and foremost, the vest is designed to reduce the risk of breast and rib injury. It also provides confidence and support for the athlete knowing they have an element of protection.
Impact comes in many forms. It can be diving for a ball and having contact with the ground, it can come from stray elbows, ball hitting the chest, tackling etc. so the vest provides a barrier between the chest and the impact. The vest is comfortable and non-restrictive. It helps empower the athlete to play with confidence.
Many teenagers drop out of sport in their adolescent years, so we want to keep girls active and keep them in sport.
You have a number of partnerships across multiple sports and leagues, are you looking to expand your network in soccer, particularly with the build up towards the Women’s World Cup?
Donna Johnson: We are working really hard across all sports, particularly soccer to develop partnerships and expand our network.
For us, it’s really about education and awareness. Breast trauma does exist and over 50% of female athletes report suffering from some form of injury to breast. We are yet to know the long-term impact of breast traumas.
Soccer participation numbers are growing, especially for female participants so we really want to give these girls female specific products to enhance performance.
The Women’s World Cup is only a few weeks away and it’s a really exciting time for women in sport. Young girls are going to be able to see women on the world stage and dream of doing a similar thing. It shows that anything is possible!
In a previous article we featured Melissa Barbieri who tested your vest before a launch. With the number of collisions and impact goalkeepers have, how are they supported with your product?
Donna Johnson: Goal keepers put their bodies on the line for their team. For female goalkeepers it’s fair to say their breasts and ribs take full impact with the ground when diving to save the ball.
Our vest provides a level of protection to reduce the risk of injury and help with recovery.
Why should a general grassroots or local player utilise your products?
Donna Johnson: Our Zena Z1 vest was so popular that we developed a Youth Vest for girls between eight & 12 years of age.
We are empowering a new generation where protective wear will be an essential part of any girl’s kit. This is where the youth vest is perfect at grass roots because girls start wearing it in their junior years and just continue to wear it the whole way through. It is part of the education.
Women of all ages playing local soccer should also consider it as we have a number of new mums returning to sport that are breast feeding and this helps with sensitivity. Women who have suffered with breast cancer or have had surgery.
They can return to sport with a level of comfort knowing they are protected. Women also have breast implants that can rupture. As you can see there are a number of reasons why women at grassroots level should be wearing Zena.
Is there anything new on the horizon we can look forward to, or any projects?
Donna Johnson: Watch this space! We are just in the process of designing and developing our Rugby Vest and then we have a whole product roadmap of female specific products we hope to develop in the future.
