Playing sports is such an important thing for all people, regardless of gender; it’s good exercise to help stay healthy, is a good stress release, and can be a great place to meet new people. The benefits of sport are obvious, yet a shocking 64% of girls quit sport by the time they are 16-17. How come such a large percentage drop out?
There are many reasons that girls feel that they have no choice but to drop out of sport. A massive part of this stems from insecurities. For example, 29% of girls between 14-16 think they’re not good enough to take part in school sport, 50% of girls are too scared to try new things due to the fear of failure, and 80% of girls have low self esteem and a lack of confidence over their body image which makes them avoid playing sport. These figures reveal how as a society it is essential that we change the way that sports for girls is approached and set up, in order to create a more safe and inclusive environment where girls feel confident enough in themselves to take part. Other reasons include: lack of support from schools or parents, too much school pressure, flawed perspective of sport being “only” for boys, and a lack of female role models.
So what can be done to change this? First of all, this issue needs to be talked about more in order to raise awareness about the problem; wether this is in school by PE staff, charities, sport coaches, or successful athletes. This can help provide role models for young girls and evoke excitement instead of dread around the idea of sport. As well as this, there needs to be a change in perspective. Parents must be supportive of their daughters playing sport and girls themselves should try taking a leap of faith to realise that sport is just as much for girls as it is for boys. In the words of Serena Williams, “Overpower. Overtake. Overcome.”
