Boxer Laila Ali and BMX racer Kim Hayashi at the Women's Sports Foundation 2007 Annual Salute to Women in Sports.
I love good news. A report by the University of Minnesota’s Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport shows that girls are involved in sports in record numbers.
The report outlines research pertaining to the benefits of girls' involvement in sports and physical activity, as well as the barriers that they encounter.
Nicole LaVoi, one of the report's authors, says “The research within the report confirms that many good things are happening when it comes to girls and physical activity. Girls are participating in organized sports more than ever and at all levels -- from organized youth sports, to interscholastic sports and up through Olympic competition."
For more information on women and girls in sports, check out the Women's Sports Foundation.
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Thats great! I'm reading "The Frailty Myth," by Colette Dowling. I always worry though, when I exit a shop and see little girls (6-8) dressing like some teen celebrity(with make-up, halter tops) on that somehow these stats are wrong. I hope not.
awesome. I really wish I had something profound and insightful to say, but I can't think of anything other than just awesome.
This is really cool.
On the same note: I know a lot of people are quick to [unfairly] dismiss mixed martial arts, but Gina Carano, a gifted athlete and talented Muay Thai practitioner will be on the main fight card of the first live broadcasted network television MMA event, May 31st.
This is fantastic for a sport typically dismissed as barbaric and claimed by many fans (sigh) as a sport that should be reserved for men. It will be a great opportunity also for people to see the professionalism and athleticism that goes into MMA competition and that one of its most gifted and exciting competitors, Gina, is a woman.
I don't encourage MMA in youth, but nothing other than good can come from girls learning martial arts for sport.
So um, yay and all, but these were the quotes that jumped out at me:
"Poverty substantially limits many girls’ access to, and participation in, physical activity and sport"
and
"Traditional models of physical education organized around competition, team sports, power, strength, aggression and which focuses on the “motor elite� rather than skill development, disadvantage girls (and boys) who are less skilled to begin with, which may contribute to a lack of enjoyment and a shunning of lifelong participation in physical activity."
Those two quotes completely sum up my experience with sports as a kid. I figured out by 3rd grade that my gym teachers considered me a write-off.
At my first school the gym teacher would divide us into soccer teams based on gender, and then handpick a few of the best boys to add to the girls team to "even things out". Those boys - and the one or two girls whose parents paid for soccer lessons - would dominate the team. In 5 years I don't think I ever touched the ball on field - is it any wonder I don't care for "team" sports?
In highschool I deliberately took a substitute credit rather than subject myself to gym class again (which also meant I missed out on sex-ed).
Wow rhowan. I always remember my teachers doing the alternating between boys and girls when picking teams thing. Having captains pick teams is still terrible for a few though. And I still felt inferior to boys in sports and loved how boys and girls were separated in high school gym. But this wasn't the teachers' fault.
good stuff, i hope that as more girls get involved in sports the viewership/sponsorship increases. as dio mentioned almost all sports now include women at some level though as a guy I must say that I have very little interest in most womens pro sports, I try to get into them but other than sports like golf, its a different game they are playing.