Keeping girls involved in sport
70% of girls give up sport by the time they reach 18 years of age; report calls for change in youth sport model
It is not simply that they do less sport, but they also stop playing at a younger age and eventually end up paying with health problems that could have been prevented with regular physical activity. Studies show that 80% of girls do not do the level of sport advised by the WHO and that 70% of young woman stop playing sport as adolescents. One of those surveys was carried out by Barcelona’s Sant Joan de Deu Hospital and published in the most recent FAROS report on educational failure called Health and girls in sports. At six years of age, 6.9% more boys play sport than girls so for those who do, then we must ensure that the practice remains attractive as they grow. The transition from primary to secondary is essential, since it is at this point that 13% of girls give it up against only 5.9% of the boys. By the time they reach 18, just three out of 10 girls still participate.
The same study does show an improvement since the last Sports Council report in 2010. “We are starting to see a social awareness of the importance of sport in long-term health” says the specialist in sports medicine, Eva Ferrer, one of the coordinators of the FAROS report.
The report also claims that the variety of sports available does have an influence. Often, cultural values and stereotypes end up influencing the choices made by girls. “The fact that there is more visibility of female athletes is helping, but it is important that there is more diversification. It seems that girls are not seduced as much by competitive sports and need options to choose from other play-like activities,” Ferrer insists. Changes need to be made in the youth sport model with even the schoolyard perhaps adapting to making participation more attractive for these young women of the future.