New campaign aims to encourage more physical activity among teenage girls

A 2018 study found that just 7% of teenage girls meet the recommended national physical activity guidelines of 60 minutes of activity every day. File Picture

Sport Ireland is investing over €300,000 in a national campaign to target inactive teenage girls.

Part of that campaign could see a partial move away from "competition-aligned structures in sport".

It could also see teenage girls being encouraged to take up alternative sports and activities such as off-road BMX.

The body has put the campaign out for tender in advance of what it hopes will be a 14-month project, starting in October.

When completed, it is hoped the campaign will formally launch in March 2023 and run until at least October 11, International Day of the Girl.

The objective of the campaign is to reframe "what being sporty means" to girls and young women, and to increase their levels of participation.

It will be aimed at inactive teenage girls in urban and rural locations, disadvantaged communities, and the LGBTQ+ community.

Disabled girls and young women will also be the focus of the campaign, as well as those from the Travelling community and other "hard-to-reach groups".

"These girls may be at risk of dropping out in the future," the tender documents state.

It might also relate to those who try to avoid participating in sport and physical activity where possible, like avoiding PE lessons."

Women and girls have long been an underrepresented group in sport, according to Sport Ireland in its tender document.

Teenage girls, in particular, take part in sport and physical activity far less than the national average in Ireland.

The 2018 Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity (CSPPA) study outlined that just 7% of teenage girls in post-primary meet the recommended national physical activity guidelines of 60 minutes of activity every day.

The 2021 Adolescent Girls Get Active Research report explored girls’ attitudes to sport which identified challenges and barriers in teenage girls’ experiences that result in lower levels of physical activity.

This research highlighted that girls often label themselves as “not sporty” and state they feel like they are not good enough, unfit, and feel less skilful or talented than others.

Increasing opportunities

Sport Ireland has been working on a teenage girl’s project titled 'Girls Get Active'.

Several physical activity programmes have since been set up and piloted around Ireland.

Sport Ireland stated: “On evaluating these pilots, it is clear sport needs to be available to teenage girls and young women in a different format to the current competition-aligned structures that exist in sport, plus increasing opportunities for girls to try new sports.”