THE issues that prevent young girls from participating in sport were highlighted to me through a short video from The Aspen Institute, Project Play and their #DontRetireKid promotion. It features a girl who starts by saying she wants to announce her retirement from sport – at the tender age of nine! Citing, pressure from parents, coaches and so on, she also says she feels it is now too late to try a different sport.
This is powerful stuff and should make us all feel a little uneasy as we ask the question, where do these thoughts come from and how are they implanted in a nine-year-old’s head? Although this originated in the US, I have no reason to believe that our young girls are not exposed to the same sort of comments and pressures. The stats for America show that around 69% of girls have given up on youth sports. What are we doing wrong? Here are four simple suggestions as to how we make sport more attractive to them.
Ask kids what they want: In a study, nine of 10 kids said “fun” is the main reason they participate. When asked to define fun, they offered up 81 reasons – and ranked “winning” at No 48, and young girls gave it the lowest ratings.
Think about re-introducing free play: Studies show that unstructured play in childhood is associated with higher levels of academic creativity among college students.
Take time to encourage sports sampling: Research shows that trying different sports leads to less burnout, less social isolation, better performance, and more lifelong enjoyment in sport.
And finally, train all coaches: Youth coaches can make an athlete for life — or wreck a child’s enthusiasm for sports altogether. Coaches also need to know how to keep a child involved and enjoying sport. Watch the clip at www.aspenprojectplay.org – it’s an eye-opener.
There’s a bit of good news for women’s sport with the announcement that there will be three more sports added into the programme for the 2022 Commonwealth Games, with women’s Twenty20 cricket, beach volleyball and para table tennis giving us 135 women’s medal competitions and 133 for men.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here