National Inclusion Week - Reshaping Sport So Girls Belong

As we mark National Inclusion Week, we spotlight our member Women in Sport, a charity that for over 40 years has been dedicated to understanding and breaking down the barriers that hold girls and women back from the opportunities and lifelong benefits of sport and activity.

Member Spotlight: Women In Sport

Sport should be for everyone. As a sensational summer of women’s sport draws to a close, everyone inspired by our amazing sportswomen should be able to get out on the pitch, the court or the track and find their own love of sport. For too many girls, that’s simply not the case. The Sport and Recreation Alliance are proud to partner with Women in Sport to spotlight the importance of breaking down barriers so that every girl can find her place in sport and physical activity. Together, we want to highlight the progress being made, while calling on the sector to reshape opportunities so that inclusion for girls is built into everyday practice.

Girls are less active than boys in every school year and they enjoy sport less - something that gets worse as they get older. Our research shows that 1.3 million teenage girls – girls who once considered themselves sporty – fall out of love with sport, dropping out once they leave primary school.

One major issue is the many challenges posed by female puberty. Over 70% of girls, even the most sporty, avoid being active when they are on their period, often because of a fear of leaking (too often exacerbated by inappropriate kit) and physical pain like stomach cramps. Puberty also brings breast pain, emotional and hormonal changes and sadly still carries a degree of social stigma.

Girls are also pushed away from sport by a fear of being judged: 61% of girls in our research said they felt judged when they did sport whilst 50% said they didn’t feel good enough to take part. This fear of judgement can be made worse when girls feel they are subject to the male gaze, which is why we believe some single sex provision is so important.

Of course, girls are not a homogenous group. Black girls, for example, are the least active group of girls and yet they’re also more likely to dream of reaching the top in sport: 60% of Black girls dream of becoming a top athlete, compared to 33% of white girls. And whilst Black girls face the same challenges as any other girls in terms of the physical reality of being a girl, there are specific issues affecting them that sport so often overlooks. Our research shows that Black girls are more likely to be typecast and adultified and have their behaviour judged by different standards. Their unique needs around hair, beauty and skincare are ignored and belittled. Black girls' relationship with sport is too often a breakup story, not a love story.

And yet we must never lose sight of the fact that sport really matters for girls. It matters for their physical health, with sport not only having immediate benefits but also playing a major role in preventing some of the serious conditions more likely to affect adult women, such as, osteoporosis. It matters for their mental health; with teenage girls and young women facing a mental health crisis, this has never been more important. It matters for the lifelong benefits and the skills it can help them build; skills like teamwork, communication and leadership. And, of course, it matters as a source of joy and belonging.

When we get sport right for girls, when we listen and understand their needs and their lives and design it around them, they thrive. Our Big Sister project, run in partnership with our friends at Places Leisure, is one example of how this can work in practice.

Big Sister is designed for girls, by girls. It offers free and discounted gym memberships to girls aged between 9-15. Alongside the use of the gym and swimming pool, girls have access to girls-only classes led by female instructors and the promise of leisure centre environments with staff trained to understand and meet their needs. Following a successful pilot, Big Sister is now delivered in all Places Leisure sites nationwide. Staff also receive specialist training, developed by Women in Sport, on the physical and emotional barriers teenage girls face.

Whilst Big Sister and other such projects elsewhere in the sector show the way, they are still unfortunately outliers.

Too many girls still lack access to the right facilities – from pitches to clean, secure, single-sex changing rooms - and a school sport system that isn’t working for them.  Even after the incredible success of the Lionesses, the Red Roses and other sports team across the home nations and beyond, 24% fewer girls than boys play any kind of team sport.  

The issues facing girls are complicated. They need everyone across the sector, and across society, to come together and act with urgency. And for girls – who are told all their lives that sport isn’t where they naturally belong – blanket inclusion often ends up meaning exclusion. It’s not enough to open the doors and hope they walk in, we must reshape sport so that it truly welcomes them.

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