Women’s Sport Monday on Sport for Business
Britain won only it’s fifth ever individual Winter Olympics Gold Medal on Friday with the victory of Lizzie Yarnold in the Women’s Skeleton event. She appeared on the front page of every British newspaper and immediately said that she would dedicate herself to increasing participation among girls in sport.
The 25-year-old said she planned to go into “as many schools as possible”, secondary and primary, to convince children to be active. “It doesn’t have to be skeleton, it could be just at lunchtimes or after school,” she told the Guardian newspaper. “Not worrying about what the media image is of the perfect woman, it’s about being you and being proud and confident about who you are.”
Recent surveys in the UK revealed that as few as 8% of 14 year old girls are getting the recommended minimum amount of one hour a day of sport and exercise.
We have written on many occasions about how wrong the gender gap is that exists between girls and boys in sport. The Irish Sports Council survey with the ESRI on sport and participation showed that while 83% of 16-19 year old boys took part in sport last week, the figure for girls is only 64%. If that were in any other field of social activity there would be outrage and a natural desire to turn things around.
Sport for Business produced a plan last year to get more girls involved in sport and to build up the kind of role models, like Lizzie Yarnold, that would inspire girls to get involved. Sport for Daughters does not require much funding but it does need some. A proposal to gain funding for the scheme from the Irish Sports Council was turned down but we are exploring other means of bringing this idea of critical importance to life.
Contact us today if you are interested in being part of the search to bring equality to sport at an age when it matters most.
Please don’t just read this and nod that it’s the right thing to do. Share it among your friends and together let’s see what we can do to make sure that our daughters have equal opportunity to play sport and live a healthy life as our sons.
