If you asked a girl what would make her feel more confident: looking skinny in a fashionable outfit or playing on a soccer team, how do you think she would answer?
There’s a good chance she would stop and think about it first.
It’s a tough choice in a world that often encourages girls to pursue physical “perfection” over participation in sports and physical activity.
Concern about physical appearance is just one of many factors that can influence girls’ participation in sports. Some research shows that by age 14, girls quit sports at twice the rate of boys.
And they’re walking off the playing field at a critical time, when they’re likely to experience a significant drop in confidence. According to a report by the Public Health Agency of Canada, 36% of girls in Grade six say they feel confident, but by Grade 10 this plummets to only 14%.
Involvement in sports and physical activity has all sorts of benefits for girls: better physical and mental health, stronger academic performance and increased confidence, to name a few.
That’s why the Canadian Women’s Foundation is proud to announce a new partnership with Always®, to help stop the drop in girls’ confidence by supporting girls’ programs in communities across Canada. These programs encourage girls to participate in sports and physical activities, explore science and technology, develop critical thinking skills and take on leadership in a supportive all-girl environment.
Always has demonstrated a strong alignment with our work through their #LikeAGirl campaign, and this partnership is a deep acknowledgement of the powerful role that sports and physical activities can play in stopping the drop in girls’ confidence.
Over the coming months, we’ll be sharing Confidence Stories in partnership with Always: a blog series featuring stories, tips and ideas about supporting girls and building confidence.
Learn More
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[…] sports. With the onset of adolescence, female sports participation drops by more than 20 per cent. This is due in part to what we call the confidence gap. Many women struggle to pursue opportunities with the same confidence as men, because they’re […]