Professional women’s sports leagues like the WNBA and the NWSL are booming. But as we celebrate what is happening at the highest levels of women’s sports, we should be asking how many girls will never discover what they are capable of because they never got the chance to play. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation’s inaugural WSF Sport Report, more than half (54%) of girls ages eight to 18 who have never played organized sports say they want to.
Somewhere among those girls is a child who could discover the sport she loves. Most will never become professional athletes, nor should that determine whether their opportunity mattered. Sports can shape health outcomes, confidence, leadership, and a sense of belonging that lasts well after competition ends.
But none of us can know what sports might unlock in a girl until she gets the opportunity to find out. As a Women’s Sports Foundation Trustee, I care deeply about what happens long before an athlete reaches the world’s biggest stages. That is why the foundation’s new research feels so important at this moment.
Our findings show us where women’s sports are thriving, where barriers remain, and where we need to focus next. One of the biggest takeaways is the disconnect between girls’ interest and their opportunity to play. Girls want to participate, but too many still are not getting into the game.
And the WSF’s report reveals that when they do, families are spending more on their sports than they are on boys’. The question is not whether girls are interested. It is whether we are creating enough opportunities for that interest to become participation.
And getting girls into sports is only the beginning. We have to give them reasons to stay. The report also points to a belonging gap that is evident among teens.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
