A study conducted by Women in Sport, titled “Reframing sport for teenage girls: tackling teenage disengagement” highlighted that more than 1 million girls who considered themselves sporty in elementary school lose interest in physical activity as teenagers.
The dominant reasons are attributed to fear of being judged, lack of confidence, and dislike of others. Just under half (47%) said they were too busy with school work to continue playing sports. Seventy-eight percent of girls who play sports say they refrain from playing when they are menstruating because of pain and perceived fatigue.
The survey also found that the pandemic affected teenage girls’ concerns about their appearance, as well as mental health issues, more than boys. It found that they are less physically active than boys in general and are much less likely to participate in team sports.
The data from this survey shows a pretty bad situation in the UK, as only 37% of girls reported being physically active compared to 54% of boys. Percentages that get much worse among 17-18 year olds where only 3 in 10 girls describe themselves as sporty, compared to 6 in 10 boys.
Self-esteem and body image issues were found to be problems that all girls struggled with, but this was especially true for girls who had stopped taking part in sports and physical activity when they grew up.
The report showed that most girls understood the benefits of being active and wanted to increase their physical activity levels, but only 47% said they found it easy to get motivated.
Stephanie Hilborne, the chief executive of Women in Sport, said, “It is an absolute farce that teenage girls are being pushed out of sport on such a scale.” She added that losing sport at this formative stage of their lives equates to a “lifelong loss of joy and good health”.
“We need to dispel the myth that adolescent girls drop out of sports simply because their priorities change. Our research found that 59% of adolescent girls who were athletic love competitive sports, but were turned down because of early years stereotypes, inadequate opportunities and a complete lack of knowledge about managing female puberty.
“Teenage girls are not voluntarily leaving sports, but are being pushed out as a result of ingrained gender stereotypes. We all need to do more to reverse this trend and not continue to accept this as inevitable.”
The association calls on schools and sports associations to keep girls engaged in sports, especially during the transition from primary to secondary school and during puberty.
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