Girls participation adapts with covid

By GreaterSport | 08 March 2021 | TAGS: Women & Girls, Active Lives, Satellite Clubs, Children and young people, research, Covid-19, Research and learning, Inequalities

Last month Sport England released the latest activity data for children and young people. At the time it gave us detailed national statistics and an overview of the Greater Manchester picture. We found out that there were 18,600 fewer children and young people achieving the recommended daily guidance of 60 minutes exercise per day compare to last year. Although disappointing this may not be surprising with the time frame of this survey (academic year 2019-20) including the start of the covid outbreak and the first schools closure.

We now have more details around what this research found in Greater Manchester with locality data now available for 8 of the localities, unfortunately there is no data available for Bolton and Tameside. This data can be found here.

Amongst the various demographics the only group to see a significant decrease in the number of young people taking part during the summer term were boys. Other groups had seen dips in the numbers taking part but not a statistically significant change.

Whilst boys' physical activity has seen significant decline girls rates have not seen a significant change. In the Summer term whilst schools were closed, the survey found that girls were exercising more than previously and the gender gap was only 2.4%. This is the closest the gap has been between females and males participation at this age since the survey began 3 years (2017/18) ago.  Whereas boys are more likely to take part in organised activities and team sports which were put on hold, girls adapted well to alternative activities with increases in ‘fitness’ and walking.

One example of adapting girls activity is Astley Sports Village based at Rayner Stephens’s academy in Tameside. It hosts a variety of health, fitness and sports sessions suitable for all ages and abilities but one of the centre’s greatest success stories is its girls-only boxing class. When the Covid-19 crisis hit, changes needed to be made to keep the sessions running and providing physical and mental health support to teenagers in the region.

‘Through GreaterSport (Satellite Clubs funding), we were able to get funding for ten sets of pads and gloves to send out to the girls on the programme free of charge,’ says Mark. ‘This meant that, once the girls had signed up for the sessions, they could keep the equipment they needed to take part at home.’

Parental input has been vital to running the online classes safely. Yet wider family involvement has also been one of the most rewarding parts of the virtual sessions. ‘Of course, as the girls were taking part at home, we knew they were training safely within social distancing guidelines by boxing as a family unit’, says Mark. ‘But it’s the shared engagement and family bonding that’s been incredible to see. Through photos, videos and stories, we’ve seen the girls staying active and encouraging their family members to join them.’ 

Francesca Speakman, GreaterSport CYP Strategic Lead said, “There has been some great work to encourage girls to move more and experience the benefits of physical activity. As we celebrate International Women’s Day we also celebrate the way organisations have adapted their approach to keep girls moving with examples like Astley Sports Village. As a sector we must consider how we ensure girls still have the opportunity to access the activity they like when normality starts to return.”