The Aviva Health Schools Fitness Challenge is underway again for 2015. At the launch we caught up with national athletics Champion Sarah Lavin and asked about the continued difference between the approach to physical fitness in schools for boys and girls.
Last years total of 13,067 students completing the challenge was broken down into 7,242 boys and 5,825 girls, a split of 55% to 45% where no such split exists in the numbers in education.
Twin Track
The impact of this ‘twin-track’ approach to gender and sport becomes self fulfilling with fewer girls taking part in sport throughout the key period of mid teens to early adulthood when lifetime habits are formed.
Lavin began competing in athletics when she was seven and became All Ireland Champion at U9.
“There is a difference between the way in which girls and boys view sport and that is made up of many factors,” she said.
Judged
“In the media and in terms of sponsorship and endorsements you are still judged to a greater extent as a female athlete by how you look as opposed to what you can do.”
That is less of a challenge for boys who can make their way without worrying about their appearance to the same extent.”
“It’s not just a sports issue but in areas of role models as well.”
“We need more heroes like Katie Taylor to be treated to the full glare of public spotlight and to inspire young girls to be like them.”
Rebalancing
“There needs to be a rebalancing between how we view women as sports role models and not focus so much on the celebrity side.”
“My early memories of athletics are of watching Sonia O’Sullivan at the Sydney Olympics. The BBC commentator I was listening to at the time called her Sarah rather than Sonia before apologising and that really stuck to me as all six year olds are tuned into their own name as something special.”
“We’ve had some great women athletes down the years from Sonia through to Derval O’Rourke and Fionuala Britton. To follow on from what Derval achieved is a dream for me and I only took up hurdling at the age of 15, partly by accident, being seen to have a natural technique while doing other training and partly being inspired by her achievements.”
Talent
Sarah Lavin has the talent and the personal quality to live up to the high standards she is seeking to meet. The more we see of her, and read about her, the more likely it is that the gap between boys and girls can narrow again, as it inevitably must though not without concentrated effort.
Sport around the world is becoming more about talent against ones peers, exactly as it should be. The Women’s World Cup in soccer this year will be another major boost for equality in terms of how sports media in the USA, England and elsewhere cover sport. We have to make sure that Ireland stays on that same course.
In that way we will have more young girls looking to the likes of Sarah Lavin to inspire them to take control of their own health, fitness and development, even those who are not called Sarah.
Read more about our coverage of Women in Sport
Read our interview with DCU Professor Niall Moyna on the importance of fitness in schools
Image credit: Inpho.ie
