Published
Last updated: June 2024
Our toolkit inspired by Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls brings you resources and key findings from the research which is funded by Sport England. It also brings together important insight about girls from various other sectors and will be updated regularly as new insight becomes available.
You can watch a video of the presentation given at the launch of this research by then Head of Insight and Innovation Kate Nicholson below:
Click on the dropdowns below to find out what you can think, say and do to make sure sport is inclusive and welcoming for teenage girls.
Understanding the challenge
This section will provide you with a wealth of background understanding on teenage girls’ lives, so you can understand not only their relationship with sport and physical activity, but also the wider issues they are facing and gain insight into what is important to them more broadly in their world. You will be able to access up-to-date statistics on behaviours and attitudes, understand more about the impact of puberty on sport, as well as hearing from girls talking about sport and their lives, first hand. Many of the latest reports from the last year focus on the lasting impact of the covid pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.
Sharing insight
Before embarking on development of new ideas we recommend you use these resources to help immerse stakeholders and decision-makers in the world of teenage girls and their relationship with sport.
1. THE CHALLENGE
Here we provide you with links to and references from various different published reports, which examine important aspects of this life-stage for teenage girls from health and wellbeing, to body image and confidence.
Active Lives Children and Young People Survey – Academic year 2022-23 Report
This report from Sport England provides insight into the activity levels of children aged 5-16, both in and out of school. The findings show that teenage girls activity levels have gradually grown in the long term, despite no significant compared to the previous 12 months. Teenage girls are significantly less likely than boys to enjoy being active and feel confident taking part. Previous Active Lives surveys can be found on the Sport England website.
Read Women in Sport’s reaction to the latest Active Lives Children and Young People Survey: More girls are playing football but a significant team sport gender gap remains – Women in Sport
Girls’ Attitudes Survey 2023 (Girlguiding UK, 2023)
This latest research from Girlguiding’s annual attitudes survey asked over 2,000 girls and young women aged 7-21, both inside and outside Girlguiding, how they feel about the specific and emerging pressures facing them today, and the implications of this for their happiness, wellbeing and opportunities in life. Previous surveys dating back to 2009 can be found on the Girlguiding website.
The Good Childhood Report 2023 (The Children’s Society, 2023)
This is the twelfth report from The Children’s Society which paints the current national picture of children’s subjective well-being, using the latest comprehensive statistics and trend data. It highlights significant gender differences in several aspects of wellbeing.
2. ATTITUDES TOWARDS SPORT
These films provide you with an understanding of the challenges faced directly from the girls themselves and enable you to view the problem through their eyes. These films are very useful resources to help others connect with the target group and we would recommend using these to set the scene for your audience before developing programmes and seeking solutions.
Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls – Girls tell us how they feel about sport
Teenage girls tell us how they feel about sport and the barriers they face.
Puberty & Sport: An Invisible Stage – Sport changes
Girls talk about how sport changed for them as they get older.
Puberty & Sport: An Invisible Stage – Under pressure
Girls talk about the increased pressure and scrutiny they feel during puberty.
Puberty & Sport: An Invisible Stage – A day in the life of puberty and periods
An animation created from girls telling us how they feel on a typical day when dealing with puberty and periods.
Big Sister – Supporting Girls to Enjoy Sport During Puberty
In the launch film for our Big Sister project (read more about this project in the “Do” section), girls talk about the complex barriers that impact their enjoyment of sport and exercise.
Research Report – Puberty & Sport: An Invisible Stage (Women in Sport, 2018)
Women in Sport’s research on the impact of puberty on girls’ relationship with sport and physical activity and the key barriers to sport during this time.
Deaf teenage girls feel sidelined in sport: UK Deaf Sport and Women in Sport
Girls who are hard of hearing talk about the difficulties they face when taking part in sport.
Breaking Barriers: Supporting disabled teenage girls to be active
Similar to our Reframing Sport for teenage girls research, disabled teenage girls talk about how they feel about sport and the barriers they face.
3. GIRLS LIVES – THEIR WORLD
Here we provide insight from our recent ethnographic online community, which provides a glimpse into the important aspects of girls’ everyday lives, and key resources which offer a broader understanding of this generation of teenage girls.
What Really Matters in Girls’ Lives?
Five important anchors from our Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls research which reflect what teenage girls’ value most in their lives. These uncover valuable parallels where girls are motivated, committed and engaged in other areas of life, which could be applied to sport and physical activity.
IPSOS Thinks Beyond Binary – The Lives & Choices of Generation Z (IPSOS Mori, 2018)
This report pulls together existing and new analysis, as well as new research on the latest ‘Generation Z’, to understand how they compare to previous generations, which can help us to better understand and engage with them.
The State of Girls’ Rights in the UK 2019-2020 (Plan International UK, 2020)
Following on from their 2016 report on girls’ rights in the UK, this latest report uses a mixed methodological approach to provide a broad assessment of girls’ lives in the UK, with a primary focus on qualitative research with girls aged 10-25 to hear their voices.
Generation Z – do they exist and what influences them?
A new report by Ipsos takes an in-depth look at the extent to which Generation Z exists in the UK, the challenges this cohort faces and how their behaviours and values may differ from generations who have come before.
Messaging and communications
Too many girls at this life-stage, are also developing negative attitudes towards sport and physical activity which become increasingly difficult to shift as they get older and act as barriers to participation throughout their lives. In this section we share some communications and messaging Women in Sport and others have done specifically around sport for teenage girls and also about self-esteem, confidence and gender-stereotyping which can be significant barriers to sport for girls.
1. Women in Sport – #TimeTogether Campaign
In October 2020 Women in Sport launched its #TimeTogether campaign to inspire teenage girls to get active with their mums.
Our Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls research looked at the importance of understanding the lives of teenage girls and appreciating what is important in helping them find the joy, fulfilment and inspiration for being active. One of the key insights our research uncovered was the power of the relationship between mums/mother-figures and daughters. Teenage girls cherish alone time with their mum and view their relationship as a ‘safe space’ without any fear of judgement. This provides an opportunity for both to be active together, and discover the joy, fun and well-being benefits of exercise.
Read more about our annual campaign and get involved here.
2. This Girl Can Supporter’s Toolkit
With loads of photos, logos, templates and tips, you’ll be able to use the This Girl Can campaign to create or promote your activities and help get more girls moving and feeling great about doing it. In 2020, This Girl Can in partnership with the Youth Sport Trust released a campaign resource for girls aged 11-18 to develop and deliver their own This Girl Can campaign in their secondary school.
This Girl Can… Create Change! school resources
3. The Dove Self-Esteem Project
Learn about Dove’s Self-Esteem Project and explore their useful tools and resources to better understand how body confidence and self-esteem impacts girls and their lives, as well and the things you can say and do to support them.
Dove film: Change One Thing – How Our Girls See Themselves
Dove film: Beauty on Your Own Terms
4. Always – ‘Like a Girl’ Campaign
Learn about Always’ stereotyping and empowerment campaign to encourage girls during puberty to embrace failure as fuel to build confidence and explore their useful tools and resources to support girls to keep playing sport #LikeaGirl.
Enhancing existing programmes and developing new ideas
Guidance to generate new thinking around sport for teenage girls and put this into practice using our 8 Principles for Success. Includes resources to support your understanding of a teenage girl audience and ideas for turning insight into action, as well as examples of existing initiatives and good practice.
We recommend you use these resources to support the following:
Review the insight to understand girls’ wider lives and engagement with sport and exercise in the ‘Think’ section of this toolkit and read our key research reports below.
Research Report – Reframing Sport for Teenage Girls (Women in Sport, 2019)
Research Report – Tackling Teenage Disengagement (Women in Sport, 2022)
Tools and techniques to help you gain a deeper understanding of the target group of teenage girls you wish to work with. Consulting with girls is essential to shaping an offer which meets their needs and increases the probability that girls will take up and keep coming back to your activities.
Spectrum of Engagement
Illustrates the broad spectrum of girls’ engagement with sport and physical activity that exists.
A Guide to Understanding Your Audience
Practical step-by-step guide on how to use innovative tools to consult with teenage girls and gain a deeper understanding of their needs and desires in relation to sport and exercise.
Teenage Girl Personas
Example personas which illustrate the needs and experiences of different girls on our spectrum of engagement. Learn how to create and use personas in the above guide.
Meet…
Use this template with the above ‘Guide to Understanding your Audience’, to inform your thinking of girls’ needs.
Resources, case studies and a selection of existing programmes and initiatives for teenage girls to inspire new ideas and to help you apply our 8 Principles for Success.
8 Principles for Success (infographic)
Principles developed to support organisations to develop and evaluate initiatives through a teenage girl lens to ensure they are accessible, engaging and exciting.
A Guide to Applying the 8 Principles for Success
A practical, reflective guide to applying the 8 Principles for Success to the design, delivery and marketing of sport and exercise programmes and initiatives for teenage girls.
Good Practice for Teenage Girls
Case Studies:
Beacon Cricket Club Mums and Daughters Team– Leveraging the mum and daughter bond in sport.
Programmes and Initiatives:
Women in Sport – Big Sister Programme
Our Big Sister programme, launched in 2022, demonstrates how we applied our insights to an initiative. Read the impact report of this pilot project here: Big Sister: breaking down barriers to activity for teen girls – Women In Sport. The Big Sister website, which went live as part of this programme, continues to provide free support, information and resources for teenage girls.
England Golf – Girls golf rocks
Active Humber – Girls Carousel
Youth Sports Trust – Girls Active
Football Foundation – Playzones Programme
Disability Inclusion Programme | Access Sport
Other Resources:
Reframing Competition Resource
Interactive resource to support practitioners which considers alternative ways to deliver competition to engage more young people containing animations, case studies and top delivery tips.
Take our training course, created with Accelerate Sport, on how sports providers can better engage teenage girls in their opportunities
Our research into how teenage girls feel about being active outdoors in their local parks and green spaces.
