28: The Lost 43% - The Teenage Girls Falling out of Love with Sport

The Women in Sport Podcast

For International Women's Day 2022, Women in Sport has released new research which found that more than one million teenage girls (43%), who once considered themselves ‘sporty’, disengage from sport following primary school.
A fear of feeling judged by others, lack of confidence, pressures of schoolwork and not feeling safe outside were some of the reasons given for not wanting to participate for this group of girls. Body image and puberty are also significant factors.
The need to engage girls in more active lifestyles has never been more urgent. This generation of teenage girls are experiencing worrying mental health issues and report being less happy, more anxious and increasingly dissatisfied with their appearance.

So, what can be done to bring back the joy to the lives of teenage girls?

To discuss this and to look at how we can stop teenagers from feeling and being side lined we’re joined by Tanya Martin, Insight Manager at Women in Sport, Alison Oliver, CEO at Youth Sport Trust, Paul McPartlan CEO of Places Leisure and Shruti Saujani, Senior Manager for Cities & Volunteers at the England and Wales Cricket Board.
Thank you to our podcast sponsor CSM Live
The report Reframing Sport For Teenage Girls - Tackling Teenage Disengagement is funded by Sport England.
For more information on Women in Sport head to:
www.womeninsport.org