Essex coach calls for change as research finds just 12% of girls plan on playing sport
Research has found lots of girls feel embarrassed whilst doing exercise
Last updated 10th Aug 2022
Despite England's Lionesses winning this summer's Women’s Euros tournament and being praised for inspiring the next generation of football stars, only 12% of young girls (around 11-16) plan on playing a sport this summer.
That’s according to new research from charity Nuffield Health, which has also revealed 48% feel embarrassed when playing sports or exercising, compared to just 28% of boys.
Emma Burden is from the Essex Football Association. She's not surprised by these figures: "We have got a real issue at the moment with participation amongst that age group...
"I think it's the way we market the products that we're offering. We've got to involve our young people a lot more in how we market products to make sure we know what they're looking for...
"For example Football Association research indicates that girls are looking for a lot more of a recreational product which is more about participation, just having fun and going back to basics... rather than it being very dictatorial, with a management figure that's telling girls what to do
"Finding this out and involving them in the process is really important, which is why we're looking to increase our female young leadership, so that we can engage and find out you what's missing and what they want."
She thinks it's likely reality TV and social media has a part to play in making girls feel embarrassed for playing sport: "Societal pressures on young people are huge now.
"Sadly the television programmes that seem to be hugely popular, like Love Island, are all about image and what you look like, which I think will continue to play a larger part in young people's opinions on sport.
"Once again, then, we really have to find out what they want from sport and exercise... we maybe need to set some boundaries before delivering sessions to this age group if it's a worry, to ensure the young people feel comfortable and can experience exercise without worrying about what they look like."
Nuffield Health also found that more than a quarter (28%) say exercise is not important to them, which Emma finds concerning: "That makes me really sad because I feel like there are so many opportunities that sport can bring you!
"I do think we've got to think wider than just making it about sport. It's got to be about health and well-being too.
"Whatever your healthy activity looks like - and it might not be sport, which is okay - we just need to be conscious that some type of movement is really important."