How to help girls stay in sport during their teenage years

Female participation in football and athletics often wanes in the teen years, despite the huge benefits of sport

'We need to reframe ‘sport’: Just because she doesn’t want to play on her local football team doesn’t mean a girl isn’t sporty.' Picture: iStock 

RTÉ sports presenter Marie Crowe played soccer in Ennis, ladies’ football in Sixmilebridge, and camogie and community games. Growing up with four sisters, it was a sporting childhood.

Crowe says: “My father was a PE teacher and very encouraging of us five girls playing sport. He made sure we were all given the opportunity to play. Soccer in Ennis was a half-hour drive back then, but, whatever sport was on, it was very normal for us to try everything.”