The latest phase in an ongoing campaign from Knix is offering an ambitious sponsorship program for world-class athletes, with former Olympic soccer star Megan Rapinoe leading the campaign.

The brand has launched the second phase of its “Sport Your Period” campaign, with agency partner Rethink. It’s designed to help remove the taboo around menstruation in sports. To show that periods in sports are normal, Knix is offering a sponsorship program where elite athletes are invited to publicly talk about competing in sporting events while

on their period, with the brand offering to pay them every time they do.

An associated spot in the campaign sees Rapinoe going through a series of pre-, mid- and post-game interviews, with her narration acknowledging that in countless interviews throughout her career, she’s never mentioned that she was competing on her period. Rapinoe adds that one in two teens skip sports to hide their period.

The overall goal of the “Sport Your Period” campaign, which first launched in December, is to normalize periods in sports and empower athletes to feel confident being active at any time of the month, says Rethink copywriter Andrée-Anne Hallé.

“The best way to normalize something is by talking out loud about it – first, with the ongoing initiative of the period sticker athletes sport when menstruating, and now with adding the athletes’ periods sponsorship program,” Hallé tells strategy. 

“With the summer being filled with sporting events, and the skyrocketing rise in interest in women’s sports lately, we’ll be exposed to more athletes competing during their period than ever before – a great context for Knix to spark conversations about periods in sports, by pointing out how they’re so normal that many athletes are competing on the world’s biggest stage while on their period.”

Knix is encouraging athletes competing at the national or global level between July 18 and November 1 to share their experiences on the matter, publicly through press conferences, accredited media interviews or on social media platforms. The brand is offering up to $2,000 for eligible athletes.

To back up the new phase of the campaign, Knix partnered with CAN Fund to survey 300 athletes about periods in high-level sports. The survey’s results  found that although 99% of those interviewed have competed during their period in international competitions, more than 64% feel uncomfortable discussing it with coaches and 75% fear leaking during competition.

Hallé adds that even though the campaign is addressing world-class athletes, its subject sheds light on a taboo for everyone, because of the stigma around discussing menstruation.

Rapinoe was the first athlete Knix approached to partner with on the second phase of its campaign, immediately seeing her as a good fit due to the star athlete’s long history of outspoken advocacy.

“Megan is an incredible example of an athlete who sets the bar for advocacy and inclusion, which is at the heart of what this initiative is about. Demanding for change on and off the field, her unapologetic passion for challenging the status quo makes her the perfect partner for this campaign,” says Knix senior director of communications and partnerships Emily Scarlett.

Knix has plans for future phases of the “Sport Your Period” campaign to include updated results that demonstrate an increase in participation from teens in sports, and more normalized conversations about menstruation in sports, Scarlett says.