Friendship key to securing young women’s participation in sport
StreetGames and its award-winning initiative, Us Girls, has published new research. It looks at how best to drive participation in sport amongst young women in the years to come.
The research reveals that 44% of young women saying that since school they have rarely played any sport or taken part in exercise. It appears that sports organisations, who fail to recognise the key role that female friendships play in encouraging girls to take part in sport, will struggle to attract young women.
Key findings from the research include:
- 63% of young women say they wont play sport or exercise without a friend by their side
- Over three quarters (77%) of young women said the number one reason for playing sport would be to catch up with their friends
- This lack of sporting appetite stems from school PE classes, with 9 in 10 young women citing dislikes such as strict teachers, anti-social classes and “being picked last”
This research comes as the StreetGames initiative, Us Girls, launches a new series of guides on how to get more teenage girls physically active through understanding the role of friendship groups.
The guides were developed following in-depth analysis of past Us Girls sessions, undertaken by Dr Nicola Eccles from Leeds Trinity University, which examined how friendship groups influence participation in sport and exercise. The Us Girls brand is designed to increase and sustain young women's participation in sport and physical activity within some of the nation’s most disadvantaged communities.
Karen Keohane, Director of Us Girls, comments:
"What girls are telling us loud and clear is that if their friends aren’t there, they are much less likely to take part in exercise. Sports organisations need to embrace this social side of sport and to understand the complex dynamic of female friendship groups. We want to make sure clubs are encouraging as many young women as possible to get involved, structuring sports classes to make sure they’re fully inclusive and friendly, interactive and allow friends to mingle and make new friends too.”
Keohane continues:
“At StreetGames, we’ve found that more relaxed formats like Zumba, gym sessions or dance go down very well as they don’t require a huge level of commitment and have a really social side. Our new guides look to help sports leaders and coaches recognise the importance of a social environment when introducing females to sport and how to build this into sessions. The Us Girls campaign provides exactly that, encouraging girls to get involved without driving them away through an over-emphasis on pressure and performance.”
