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Extra-curricular activities

Find advice on the best extra curricular activities in secondary schools and primary schools here.

Original poster

Girls and extra curricular sports

125 replies

randomsabreuse · 31/08/2021 14:24

Sat in a toddler sports thing where parental participation is not required but attendance is. 2 girls, 7 boys. Tennis attended by 6yo DD is 1 girl, 5 boys with 3 girls (2 sisters) and 9 boys in the older mini tennis class. Gymnastics is girl dominant for 6 yo but even for toddler.

Demographic is a largely middle class/affluent suburban area and after school drops off to tennis... Football is a big draw for boys (millions of youth teams)

Why do so few girls do sports? Does the socialisation start at 2?

Ideas please.

I have one of each, ideally they will do the same stuff for a while - older one has tennis, 2 yo is still too young, otherwise they have the same. Will get options to specialise at 8 or so, plus obviously try other sports as they get old enough...

OP posts:
Original poster
randomsabreuse · 02/09/2021 13:11

My DD started tennis last November because it was the first sport to reopen for 5yo beginners in our area. Then, being an outdoor non-contact sport it got to continue throughout the winter lockdown (Scotland) even when schools were shut, at which point it became an absolute lifesaver! Other activities got added as they became available and as DC enjoys them we haven't needed to stop. Gymnastics will work with sib (who loves toddler gym so far), as will Tennis (mixed age classes with separate groups).

OP posts:
thing47 · 02/09/2021 13:44

OP, we took DD to a multi-sport thingy on the weekends, for all the same reasons you mention. She loved it and went for 6 years. It started off fairly evenly split between girls and boys, but by the end definitely more girls had dropped out than boys.

At her secondary school she represented the school at 9 or 10 different sports, both team and individual. No need to specialise imo. I wouldn't describe her as particularly competitive, but it instilled a lifelong interest in sport and in staying fit and healthy, which has to be a good thing.

PileOfBooks · 02/09/2021 13:47

Wow she's done well. At our secondary it seems its all the county-already specialists that end up representing their own sport. General all rounders don't get much of a look in. I think its contributed to decline in sport in our school. Its really only those who already are good at it that get to do it!

Bear2014 · 02/09/2021 13:49

Our 7yo daughter does loads of sporting activities and enjoys them all, but it does tend to be fairly boy heavy. For a year or so she was the only girl in her football class and at the moment in her tennis class there are 2 girls and 8-ish boys. That said she is now in a girls' football team within a thriving club and a lot of her friends are sporty. The sports holiday clubs are very popular. We live in an area of London that has a lot of great facilities for sports and plenty of open space, and it seems to be thought of as cool by both boys and girls to be active and sporty. For now at least!

Original poster
randomsabreuse · 02/09/2021 13:59

@thing47

OP, we took DD to a multi-sport thingy on the weekends, for all the same reasons you mention. She loved it and went for 6 years. It started off fairly evenly split between girls and boys, but by the end definitely more girls had dropped out than boys.

At her secondary school she represented the school at 9 or 10 different sports, both team and individual. No need to specialise imo. I wouldn't describe her as particularly competitive, but it instilled a lifelong interest in sport and in staying fit and healthy, which has to be a good thing.

That would have been my ideal choice but there were no multi sport things open until well after specialist outdoor facilities had reopened - and the multi sports group had a long wait list. And I wanted to add more physical stimulation than just running with me could provide (as we proved in lockdown) - learning different skills was more fun!

School PE seems to be even more limited than it was in my youth (and outdoor facilities at DC's catchment school are not great) so we do loads of after-school activities which seem to reduce the crazy bouncing off the at bed time!

Gymnastics I decided on balance that I'd rather she learned things like cartwheels on a bouncy floor than on the tarmac playground!

OP posts:
2reefsin30knots · 02/09/2021 15:55

@thing47

OP, we took DD to a multi-sport thingy on the weekends, for all the same reasons you mention. She loved it and went for 6 years. It started off fairly evenly split between girls and boys, but by the end definitely more girls had dropped out than boys.

At her secondary school she represented the school at 9 or 10 different sports, both team and individual. No need to specialise imo. I wouldn't describe her as particularly competitive, but it instilled a lifelong interest in sport and in staying fit and healthy, which has to be a good thing.

Perhaps no need to specialise if you only want to play school sports at school standard.

If you want to go higher than that, you are really forced to specialise. My DS had to choose between the two sports he is good at by the time he was 10. Both require whole weekends on a regular basis- he couldn't be in two places.

nancy75 · 02/09/2021 17:32

@Madcats

A qn to all you sports coaches....just wondering how many youngsters didn't return to their competitive sport after lockdown?

We certainly went through a spate of "what do non-sporty families do at weekends?", followed by "oh it's quite nice not getting up at ridiculous o'clock ".

We are definitely more selective about what we do/compete in, but that would probably have happened anyway (GCSE years).

Tennis - we have been busier this year than we’ve been in the past 26 years, every group is full & with waiting lists. Tennis was one of the first back after lockdown 1, people were desperate to find anything to get the kids active & out of the house. We had some booked in 4 times a week!
thing47 · 02/09/2021 21:51

Perhaps no need to specialise if you only want to play school sports at school standard.

I guess it depends how good you want to be, or think you can be. Certainly if you have ambitions of playing a sport professionally I would agree with you but it is possible to play more than one sport to county or regional level.

My other DC specialised, to the extent of having to give up other sports. DD preferred to play a large number of different sports to good school/club standard rather than concentrate on one. Horses for courses.

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 05/09/2021 14:44

DDs had their first Rugby training session today. Both were the only girls in their age categories. (U11s and U9s). But from next year, DD1 will be on a Girls only team (they can't play mixed at higher age groups). So they have teenage girls playing, but not younger girls...

Marni83 · 05/09/2021 15:42

I don’t know about you

But do YOU want to play rugby?
I looked on at rugby at my very very sporty prep school - where they encourages girls to do any and all sports and I remember thinking how bloody awful it looked.

My daughter and I watched my son play rugby this morning. My daughter plays football. Her school offers rugby for girls (also very sporty prep school). She said to me “I can’t believe rugby is not illegal - it’s so brutal”.

So ask yourselves. Did you pang to play rugby as a young girl if it wasn’t available?

As a woman now, is it a sport that you would be over the moon about your daughter Playing? Because my son plays high level and let me tell you - the injuries, the bruises…. It truly is brutal.

Marni83 · 05/09/2021 15:44

Often we get swept up in….. girls and boys MUST be treated the same

Before asking ourselves… do the massive majority of girls genuinely NOT want to do rugby. Actively do not. And not did we as girls.

And those that pang to do it, certainly around my area they can. But o do accept it just be frustrating if you have a daughter desperate but no Avenue to.

Although… if i was in those shoes, I’d start rallying around to see what other girls interested to see if we could approach existing rugby club with a dozen names of interested girls.

I suspect yours struggle to get 3

Aroundtheworldin80moves · 05/09/2021 15:48

They asked to play Rugby after enjoying it at school.

MrsPnut · 05/09/2021 15:52

@Marni83

I don’t know about you

But do YOU want to play rugby?
I looked on at rugby at my very very sporty prep school - where they encourages girls to do any and all sports and I remember thinking how bloody awful it looked.

My daughter and I watched my son play rugby this morning. My daughter plays football. Her school offers rugby for girls (also very sporty prep school). She said to me “I can’t believe rugby is not illegal - it’s so brutal”.

So ask yourselves. Did you pang to play rugby as a young girl if it wasn’t available?

As a woman now, is it a sport that you would be over the moon about your daughter Playing? Because my son plays high level and let me tell you - the injuries, the bruises…. It truly is brutal.

Not only did I play rugby from being a child into my late 20's but my daughter has played since she was 4 and is now 15. She adores rugby, it makes her feel strong and invincible.

Rachel Burford is doing amazing work to bring rugby to more girls and they have done research into the mental health benefits of playing.

My daughter's other sport is roller derby, again a contact sport. She has previously done judo and swam competitively as well but she decided to concentrate on her two favourite sports.

Marni83 · 05/09/2021 16:00

Full conte t rugby?

Marni83 · 05/09/2021 16:01

Contact

Marni83 · 05/09/2021 16:01

Amongst your daughters friends at school ie not at club
Do any of them play rugby?

MrsPnut · 05/09/2021 22:11

@Marni83 I am not actually sure who you are addressing this to, you are quite incoherent but my daughter plays full contact rugby and has done since she was 8.
She knows plenty of girls that play, both at her school and also at the club. Her club has about 60+ girls in their U13, U15 and U18 sections and there are clubs with bigger girls sections too.

Marni83 · 06/09/2021 07:18

Full contact rugby at 8? What country are you in?

In Uk full contact rugby is not until 14 generally at schools. Certainly no club would do full contact before 12

PileOfBooks · 06/09/2021 07:23

Yup mine played tag rugby at school based club for that reason! I must admit I wasn't sad when they gave it up. I didn't want them to do full contact rugby really and it turns out neither did they!

Marni83 · 06/09/2021 08:01

@PileOfBooks

Yup mine played tag rugby at school based club for that reason! I must admit I wasn't sad when they gave it up. I didn't want them to do full contact rugby really and it turns out neither did they!
Exactly!
Marni83 · 06/09/2021 08:01

An 8 year old playing full contact? I really don’t think so.

MrsPnut · 06/09/2021 08:07

The RFU laws introduce contact rugby at U9 level for both boys and girls. The only differences between playing at U9 and U12 are number of players on the pitch and the lack of rucks/mauls/scrums and line outs. Each of these are introduced at each subsequent age grade.
I don’t know where you are playing but every club we know plays to regulation 15.

Marni83 · 06/09/2021 08:08

You do know in rugby there is a difference between contact rugby

And full contact?

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