Bedfordshire organisation aims to get girls back into sport.
More than a million teenage girls lose interest in sport after primary school, report says.
Last updated 11th Mar 2022
A new survey by Women in Sport reveals many teenage girls lose interest in sport due to concerns about self-belief, capability, and body image.
An estimated 1.3 million girls in the UK who thought of themselves as “sporty”, lose interest in physical activity after primary school, according to the report.
The charity found that of those girls who lost interest in sport, 68% said this was due to a fear of feeling judged and 61% said they lacked confidence.
In comparison with boys, teenage girls were much more likely to say they used to think of themselves as sporty, but had fallen out of love with exercise. By the time girls turn 17-18, only three in 10 would describe themselves as sporty, in comparison to six in 10 boys.
The report also found that the pandemic has impacted mental health issues and worries about appearance in teenage girls. Self-belief and body image concerns were both found to have an impact on girls who had stopped taking part in sport and physical activity as they grew up.
Team BEDS&LUTON, a non-profit organisation that promotes physical activity, are looking to get girls in Bedfordshire involved in sport again.
Gill Morrow, the PE, School Sport, and School Games Manager at team BEDS&LUTON, says it’s important to ask girls what kind of sport they want to do.
"We're looking at targeting inactive or disengaged girls in secondary school and we're hoping to engage them in activities that maybe they haven't tried before. But also make it in the community so that they know where to go and do this activity afterwards."
"It's really important that we empower those children. If you look at the research, it's empowering those girls to have a say in what they do. Because if they're empowered to be part of that decision-making process, the chances are they will then continue to be physically active afterwards."