Guest post: “All women and girls should be able to experience the joy, fulfilment, and lifelong benefits of sport”

[JuliaMumsnet]

"When someone says the word "sport" what’s the first thing you think of?

For me, it is gazing longingly out of the window at the netball courts during French class. But our charity Women in Sport knows that for many women the opposite is true. "Sport" brings back horrible memories of school. Whether it was being forced to wear “gym knickers” or a leotard when you were on a period or never getting picked for the team because you weren’t “sporty”.

And yet the word sport means “being carried away from stress and responsibility”. It’s about having fun. I don’t know many women who would reject the idea of less responsibility and more freedom.

Now think about exercise. What do you first think about when someone says the word “exercise”? Many women we talk to wince because they think they should be doing more of it. For others, serious exercise conjures up pain and suffering. But when we actually get around to going out for a brisk walk or even a run, we feel great. Our bodies release endorphins when we exercise, which is the healthiest way to get high.

Women in Sport has been looking into the lives of teenage girls and women during the last year and finding out how lockdown has affected women’s experiences of, and views on, exercise and sport. Before the pandemic, Sport England statistics showed that the gap was closing but women were still slightly less active than men overall.

The biggest gender gap was in team sport – with 25% fewer girls than boys involved in teams and paltry opportunities for girls at school. That’s why the closure of schools affected boys’ sports the worst.

Why should we care about team sport? Because being in joint endeavour, in a team, trying to win while having fun brings lifelong benefits. If more girls had positive experiences of team sport at school, more women would enter the workplace and wider society trained to lead, to take risks, and to be resilient if they lose.

So, what did we find out about girls in lockdown? During the pandemic, the Government put exercise front and centre as one of the few ways we were able to leave our homes. This opportunity has released some girls into new worlds. We talked to teenage girls going for walks outside with friends for the first time, and 82% of girls said they would put more effort into being active when life returned to normal. Teenage girls we spoke to recognised the value of exercise for their physical and mental health, some for the very first time. They may not know that research shows a positive impact of outdoor sport on body image, but they are feeling it.

Then we spoke to the women. We know that women have borne the brunt of pandemic redundancies and that home-schooling has exposed ongoing stereotypes and gender inequalities in the home. The women we spoke to were time deprived. 32% of women said they could not prioritise exercise during lockdown as they had too much to do for others. But on the positive side, the crisis has led people to reappraise. People have been resetting their priorities and there is more motivation to exercise than there used to be. 85% of women in our research said they would either put more effort into being fit and active or would keep up being active after lockdown.

Our recent new research into women around the menopause showed that this too can prompt reappraisal. So, the double whammy of an unprecedented pandemic and an unprecedented change in hormones seems to be triggering a bit of a revolution amongst midlife women.

One of the most fascinating insights we gleaned even before the pandemic was how much teenage girls cherished time alone with their mum or mother figures in their lives. They saw such relationships as ‘safe spaces’ without fear of judgement. Lockdown has exaggerated this feeling and girls have appreciated time being active outside, in nature, in a safe context without toxic commentary from peers.

Last year we launched our #TimeTogether campaign based on our understanding that midlife women and teenage girls both face unique physical challenges and pressures, and that they want to support one another. Women and girls also know they ought to be more active, but many find it hard to act on that. So, we’re inspiring women and girls to team up, to get active and have fun together outside. As we go back to some normality post lockdown, this special relationship may well help overcome shared concerns about loss of fitness or being in large groups.

The pandemic has led to a growing intolerance of inequality, whether racial, economic, or gender inequality. At Women in Sport, we’ve been intolerant of this for a long time. We know that less wealthy women from certain diverse backgrounds are the least active of all. How wrong is this, that society is denying these girls and women joy and health?

The pandemic exposed underlying inequalities in society across the board, and elite sport was no exception. In August 2020 a BBC survey of elite British sportswomen showed 86% earnt less than £30k from sport, and 60% less than £10k and one in five believed they may have to give up their sport due to the crisis to focus on having a normal job. At the same time women’s sport all but disappeared from our screens. The women’s football Euros were pushed back to 2022 to make way for the men’s Euros to be played in 2021. The Women’s Six Nations was never completed, the 2020 Netball Super League, Football Women’s Super League and Championship were all cancelled. In contrast, the top three tiers of men’s football continued their 2019-20 season; the men’s Premiership Rugby 2019-20 season restarted in August, the men’s Six Nations was completed.

So it is hardly surprising that half as many girls as boys dreamt about reaching the top of sport (30% cf 60%) in a survey we ran with Sports Direct in March 2021. We should not be denying our girls the chance to dream.

We want to redefine the relationship that many girls and women have with sport and exercise. This should be about fun, and we have a right to fun at every time in our lives. Yes, we could be drawing joy from sport, even as teenagers when everywhere you look people are commenting on your appearance; and even in mid-life when that pressure cooker of responsibility means our own needs come last. We want the legacy of the pandemic to be a break down in negative gender stereotypes and the emergence of a new normal in which all women and girls can experience the joy, fulfilment, and lifelong benefits of sport."

EDIT: Stephanie will be coming back onto the thread at 11am on Thursday 17th June to answer your questions.

Forgot to mention I went to an all girls school.

God, I hated school sports, the judgement of my peers and the bullying of PE teachers in numerous schools. The mockery that is permitted which wouldn’t be tolerated in academic subjects in the same school.

What’s my first impression when I hear ‘Women’s sports’?
A deep, visceral hate, followed by relief that I’m no longer forced to participate. And that’s 50 years later.

Can you define 'women', op?

As for -

'Why should we care about team sport? Because being in joint endeavour, in a team, trying to win while having fun brings lifelong benefits. If more girls had positive experiences of team sport at school, more women would enter the workplace and wider society trained to lead, to take risks, and to be resilient if they lose.'

'...in a team....while having fun...'
Team sports are so offputting, to me and no doubt others. Why is the emphasis always on team sports?

What @lottiegarbanzo said.

I was assaulted and bullied in PE. The teachers couldn't care less and sometimes joined in with the verbal side. It was abusive. The boys had it even worse, regular injuries requiring hospital visits and being shouted at throughout the session. It was all completely normal and accepted.

As an organisation focused on sport you must be aware of how common these norms are and how frequently children are subjected to assault, injury and bullying in mandatory competitive sport aka PE lessons.

I don't see how any of that is appropriate or desirable for a modern society I'm afraid.

@Wearywithteens

PE (ie. competitive sport) was the bane of my school life and made me utterly miserable (despite being an active outdoorsy little girl). It blighted my life because I didn’t comprehend the need to competitively chase a stupid ball.

When I was given a choice to do dance as a PE option in my very last year, I realised what a complete waste those years had been for all the non-competitive kids, fat kids, weak kids etc and how we’d been cruelly robbed of the opportunity for exercise and fun. I would rather have walked for an hour than be forced to play netball with red-mist-eyed teammates.

I applaud your initiative but you must first recognise the need for activity that chimes with many young girls, not the naturally ‘sporty’ ones. And you’ll have to address, sooner or later, for your own credibility, the pernicious erosion of female sport on the gender identity arena.

Agree with this, on my weekends with cadets l went hill walking, kayaking, abseiling swimming and with friends did horseriding however because I was not on the school team for netball and hockey which were the only activities we played as they were the teachers favourite I was told I had no interest in physical activity. Can you imagine any other subject where you only concentrated on the teachers preference? 'Well lm fascinated only by the Medieval era so l just don't teach any other time period'?!

I love Rugby, I’m sure my 10 year old girl would too but I won’t now encourage this because of the possibility of boys playing in girls team if they identify as a girl. I don’t want my daughter to be paralysed because of the strength and size differences. I have worked with men who have been paralysed through Rugby and the sports rules over time have made the game safer. But now? Sports like Rugby, athletics, cycling, swimming? No point in encouraging our daughters as their places will be taken and their hard work for nothing.

Can schools move away from team sports for all and focus on non competitive fitness? Focus on personal bests, dance, self defence?

I read a very old article from Women in Sport which said that sport in schools tended to switch many girls off and its impact was lifelong.

Too much emphasis on team sport.

@lottiegarbanzo

Hello Stephanie,

You're from an organisation called Women in Sport; you've defined sport for us, could you define 'woman' please?

Could you then go on to say a little bit about the implications of your, and other, definitions of that word, for the prospects of girls and women in sport, at all levels?

Thank you.

This.

Also another one who has never really liked team sports.

Surely the point of sport at a governmental level is to keep the population healthy? If this is the case, then I really struggle to understand the constant push to involve girls in team sports. I loathed PE at school. I was overweight and unfit. It was a twice weekly humiliation, exacerbated by the PE teacher who seemed only interested in the already sporty girls. I can’t think of anyone in my class who arrived at secondary not sporty and actually improved/took up a sport.

As an adult, I have discovered the joys of running and strength training. These are largely solitary pursuits for me and I’m fine with that - I can train when I want to and when fits around my family instead of fitting in with the schedule of a club. Why must women engage in sport the way men do?

What happens when "women's sport" actually includes males? Are you worried that girls will be discouraged from pursuing a sport when they see men like "Lauren" Hubbard stealing titles from women?

Placematking for the responses. So many great points raised. I really need a 'like' button!

PE should be optional. Being forced to participate is absolutely grim and team sports are the worst. Thankfully my mum was happy to write me plenty of excuse notes and I will happily return the favour for my daughter!

It would help if school PE actually tried to teach rather than just cherry-picking the girls who are already ‘good at sports’.

I’ve benefited far more from Couch to 5k and from a very sociable women’s running group than I ever did from school sports.

School PE is the perfect setting for bullying, body shaming and discrimination. It happened to my dd, who was very successful in sport outside school, but was dreadful for the girls who struggled. The bullying was institutional and led by the teachers. I hated PE at school, but I would have loved a dance or yoga class.

Echoing pp, school PE was awful; bullying that would not have been tolerated in any other subject, no actual teaching and the obsession with the same sports over and over. In my school it was netball/hockey/cross country in winter and athletics in the summer. Very occasionally we were allowed to do aerobics, again as pp, there was room/staff/take up to do it regularly but always the same obsession with team sports.

It took me 20 years to start doing anything sport-wise after I left school. I started running which I’ve just got back into after an absence of a few years. I don’t run across muddy fields in freezing temperatures though, I do it in the comfort of my garage on a treadmill. I also do martial arts. PE should be focused on fitness for ALL, not just the ones the teachers like because they are naturally ‘sporty’. In fact, more should be put into helping those who aren’t that fit/strong/sporty to find something that they enjoy and keeps them active whether it be dance/aerobics/body combat/cycling etc.

Do guest posters respond? Very interested to see responses to all the excellent points made so far.

Unfortunately this isn't a webchat, it's a plop and run. I suspect MN won't get a webchat until WiS decide the time is right to set out their stall on transwomen in women's sport. Could you invite them though @JuliaMumsnet? Make clear that the offer's there when they're ready and, as the response to this toe in the water post demonstrates, we have lots of other interesting questions and perspectives to discuss?

For most of my adulthood I was drawn to yoga and dance, as this suited my build and temperament. However, at nearly 50, and with an ok baseline of fitness due to gym workouts and regular swimming , I have joined a mixed social football team.

We play once a week. It is so much fun even though I play terribly. It was an eye-opener how little dynamism I had when I started, and how fast I improved.

As we age it is important to keep trying new things. Team sports just might fit the bill so I urge the naysayers to keep an open mind (despite the scarring teen PE experiences). Participating in a sport which sanctions - celebrates! - being overtly competitive carries over into other areas of my life.

I think puberty issues need to be addressed in school. I gave up swimming due to periods, body hair shaming and embarrassment over my developing breasts. Same for ballet, didn't want to wear a revealing leotard or get changed in a communal room.

I echo the useless gym teachers who would bully and have favourites and ignore or belittle the 'unsporty' girls like it wasn't their JOB to teach them.

Oh and sports bras, I hope they're more common now but I remember people laughing over the big breasted girls getting black eyes during cross country...

Oh, and the boys would take over the playing courts so even if girls wanted to play netball or just run around they were hustled off.

Maybe time share or separated spaces in secondary schools would work?

In primary we mostly all played playground games together.

And yes I agree with PP who query why we should be encouraged to act like men in the workplace and not have workplaces change to suit everyone!!!!

I hated sport at school. Really, really hated it. When I learnt to run aged 40, I had a revelation that no one had ever actually tried to teach me to run, hit a ball, throw things etc just dumped me out on a netball court with the other rejects.
Aged 49, I'm very active - but all with things I do by myself with no group/team/club, and I enjoy competing on my own terms, in events of my choosing.
I can't say its any better for my son though - he started school and found that there was a group of boys who were 'good at football/cricket/rugby' and from age 5 there was no getting into the school team ahead of them as they got all the training and no one explained to him properly how to kick a ball efficiently. At secondary school he got put in the bottom PE group, and again, they don't concentrate on key skills - but do different sports at least. However he is a pretty talented cyclist but with no interest in competing, just completing - and I'll take that for the rest of his life.

@lottiegarbanzo @Grellbunt yes yes yes

Also I find the assumption that women aren’t ready to lead (because they don’t play sports) insulting.
So members of debate teams, orchestras and choirs sont have all of these qualities? ONLY ‘sport’?
Stop trying to make us men.
What would really help is in qualified teachers in a variety of sport for all personalities. Football, hockey and netball are the same ‘type’. Just offer one of them!
Sadly individualised sports are expensive so I don’t see this happening but this Is silly

Two trains of thought follow from this in my mind. One is that schools could and should listen to and learn from girls; what exercise they want, would like to try and what they do voluntarily. Also that they should take heed of OP's definition of sport and reposition sport within the context of wellbeing, heeding their own responsibility to their students as whole people. Sport as something essential to life, health and happiness - especially as a relief from study and a way of supporting girls' ability to study, healthily, steadily and successfully.

The other is a bit of a tangent, on the training women to function in a men's world theme. What strikes me from what I read, at a broad brush level, is that men seem to require hierarchy, rules and someone telling them what to do, in order to be able to talk to each other, function and get anything done. So it is in work, sport and the military. (And the three are intimately intertwined of course).

Men also like this stuff because it offers institutionally-backed status to their preferred activities. Look at the gazillion threads on here about cricket / football / golf / cycling widows, whose husbands have to attend every Saturday (and stay for drinks after). The (overlapping) gazillion about men with Very Important Jobs who cannot possibly do any housework.

I find it interesting to ponder that it is a lack of social skills, self-motivation and the confidence to act without external direction, that leads boys and men to require the hierarchy, rules and bossiness of traditional work and sport.

So when boys lost their connection to organised team sport, they didn't know what to do with themselves. Whereas girls just got on with it.

Women and girls don't need the social and organisational crutches that men rely upon, in order to work together and get things done. Why would we want to hobble them by teaching them how to operate with crutches they don't need, that don't fit them? Why not let them fly?

It's all far more complicated obvs. But in terms of the story the OP tells us, I find this inference interesting.

Or to put it more succinctly, the need for sport's hierarchy, rules and direction shows us that the vast majority of men are not leaders, they are happy followers.