A major issue in the UK is the stark difference between male and female participation sport. This can be seen from grassroots to professional levels. As a result, many girls may miss out on all the health and well-being benefits that an active lifestyle provides. Evidence suggests there is a direct relationship between physical inactivity and a number of well known negative factors that can affect girls’ physical and mental health as they grow up, like diabetes and high blood pressure.
Looking at football specifically it is interesting to note in England, there are 62,000 registered female youth football players. This is much less than that of Germany (141,000 girls playing football), as well as Sweden (98,000) and the Netherlands (84,000).
In the UK statistics detailing gender specific sport related income, participation and televised sports imply sport is a male activity by default, with women’s sport often treated as something far less important. It would appear social and cultural attitudes need to change to help keep more girls and females participating in sport longer.
Research by the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation shows that a drop in female participation levels begins to occur before the transition to secondary school. A recent study also found that a mere 38% of seven year-old girls were achieving the recommended amount of physical activity, compared to 63% of boys. Girls’ activity seems to decline between years 4 and 6 at primary school and by the age of 16, less than a quarter of girls, compared to 37% of boys, play sport three times a week.
The London 2012 Olympics was arguably a watershed for women’s football. The English Football Association (FA) and Premier League have since launched schemes to encourage girls to try or continue to play football, including recreational programmes at local football clubs, as well as projects set up with high-profile Premier League clubs. The FA has noted that, as both the quality and coverage of the elite women’s game has improved, so has interest in the game from young girls. Although there has been the odd initiative, more certainly needs to be done to provide a long-term solution to this increasing societal problem.
According to Sport England, some of the main barriers to female participation include a lack of information. As parents, it is our responsibility to find out about the different football, sport, dance and exercise programmes that are on offer and encourage our daughters to take part in them. Studies show that the main things that motivate girls to play football are the opportunity to take part with friends, a non-competitive atmosphere and having fun in safe and comfortable environments.
There is no doubt that women’s football has developed over the past few years, being now the third most popular team sport after men’s football and men’s cricket. It’s our job to help this continue!
At Kiddikicks, we focus on developing skills and encouraging everyone to participate. There’s no need to pressure young children about perfect technique, or winning and losing. It’s far more important to learn about the fun of playing, being active and trying hard and being resilient.