Women And Sports: The Building Blocks Of A Positive, Confident Person

I am very active in my church's youth ministry. There I have the chance to interact with the males and the females that participate in the program. It is amazing to observe the group dynamics of the kids interacting with each their same gender and opposite gender peer group. Last year, one of the females in the program graduated from high school. She was a varsity basketball player, who had picked up the sport in grade school. She was graduating with honors and attending one of the state universities here in the state. In addition, she had enrolled in their competitive engineering program this fall. She was one of our strongest, if not the strongest member, of our youth group. I watched how she interacted with her peers as well as the confidence she exhibited when she had to do projects or speeches in front of the congregation in comparison to the other females that were in the group. To me, she displayed an aura of confidence and leadership that the other girls seem to lack. She never really seem to concern herself with the way she looked or how much makeup she needed to have on if we were going to a public event.

She isn't the only female that I have noticed this correlation of sports and confidence with either. My little sister has played numerous of sports while growing up. She started with basketball in middle school, then transitioned over to soccer and tennis in high school. She went to college as a walk-on in tennis and later was awarded a tennis scholarship the following year.

There are many benefits that females receive from participating in athletics. In this blog today we will briefly go over some of them as to encourage those that are reading that may be on the fence to participate or to allow their daughters to participate in athletics.

Benefits of Females In Sport

Not long ago, being serious about sports was considered appropriate only for men and boys". Throughout the 20th century, women's increasing participation in sports has challenged our conception of womanhood. In the post-Title IX era, female participation in sport has skyrocketed. In 1970, one in every twenty-seven girls played high school varsity sports; compared to one in three today. Overall, women currently outnumber men as active sports/fitness participants. Sports have many more positive effects on women than are recognized in our everyday lives. Sports are not only positive physically, but they are also very important for the psychological and social well-being of women in today's world.

Studies have shown that sports participation for girls has significant health implications:
• Sports and other exercise helps to lay down bone mass. Therefore sports can be an influence over the prevention of osteoporosis.

• Girls that participate in as little as two hours a week of exercise can reduce her risk of breast cancer.

• High school girls who participate in sports are less likely to experience unwanted pregnancy and more likely to graduate

Psychological effects of sports are equally as strong as the physical aspects. Here are some psychological benefits for girls that participate in sports:

• They have a higher self esteem and a higher level of confidence and lower levels of depression

• They have a more positive self image and experience higher states of psychological well-being than those that don't participate in sports


Through sports girls can learn intangible people skills that will help them throughout the working world. Traditionally, girls can learn teamwork and goal-setting. Sports help women learn how to work together to achieve common goals, much like that of the business world. In an age where women are rising in the corporate world, women should be as familiar with those skills as men are. In a study, 80% of the female executives that were employed by a Fortune 500 Company, identified themselves as a former "tomboy" or a former athlete of some sort.

Girls and Women Need Encouragement and Aspirational Role Models

Many people think that girls are not as interested in sport as boys. Women's Sports Foundation research shows that boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 9 -- and their parents -- are equally interested in sports participation. However, by the age of 14, girls drop out of sport at a rate that is six times greater than boys. Girls and women simply do not receive the same positive reinforcement about their sports participation. Boys receive balls, gloves and sports equipment by the age of two. They see their images on television as sportsmen, they see their photos in the sports section and know from their parents and friends that they are expected to play sports.

So what must be done to alleviate this problem?

We must do a better job of supporting our daughters' sports participation. For Christmas and birthdays, we must find books about girls in sports, give gifts of sports equipment and sports lessons. We need to take our sons and daughters to see women playing sports so they grow up appreciating and respecting the sports skills of women and so our daughters see images of themselves excelling in sports -- because she is not going to see those images on television or in the newspapers. It's no accident that girls' sports participation in Olympic sports increases significantly following the Olympic Games, one of the few times that coverage of women's sports is equal to that of men's sports. Aspirational role models drive youth demand for sports. This top to bottom synergy has not yet become commonplace in women's sports because of limited college and professional sports opportunities and television coverage.

However, the trend is clear: the increased participation and success of female athletes equates to a healthier more productive female in society. Not only will she be a force on the playing field/ court, but once she takes the sneakers, cleats, etc. off she will also be able to contribute and be a force in our community. I think with the raise in female coverage and participation "We ain't seen nothin' yet! Bust that ceiling open.-Girl Power"

Reference:
Women's Sports Foundation. http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org
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