This Girl Can: It’s time to choose you

After a year where many women and girls have felt unable to put their own needs first, This Girl Can campaign is sharing the message that it’s ‘time to choose you’ when it comes to sport and physical activity!

The latest Active Lives Survey results found a decrease in activity levels of females over the last year as a whole & they have remained consistently lower than 12 months earlier.  

With the lockdown lifting and restrictions easing we want women and girls to feel they can get back into sport and physical activity and prioritise taking some time for themselves. We visited The Kendleshire Golf Club to learn more about some of the barriers females often face when it comes to taking part in sport and physical activity.

Emma Brown- The Lady Golf Coach is currently working at The Kendleshire. In the last 3 years female Golf participation at the Kendleshire has seen enormous growth of 70%. Emma is so passionate about females having the opportunity to participate in Golf as well as changing the stereotype of the sport to ensure the numbers of female golf players continue to rise over the coming years.

In order to continue the growth in female participation we asked Emma and some of the participants what the common barriers are when it comes to female participation in sport and physical activity:

• Time: When schedules are busy the time we give to ourselves and our own wellbeing is often the first thing to go.

• Kids: Juggling parenting responsibilities can often mean that we don’t prioritise our own time for sport and physical activity.

• Traditional expectations: Emma has experienced that some participants struggle to attend sessions due to the traditional expectations linked to home life.

• The fear factor and lack of confidence: Emma is working hard to change the messaging around the sessions to give females the confidence to try something new and to not be afraid to fail.

• Fear of judgement: From others at the club and more experienced players.

• Stereotype and bias: One of the participants has been playing Golf for a long time and highlighted the stereotype and bias that Golf is a male dominated game.

• Ensure the environment is welcoming and safe for members: Awareness of messaging & increased interaction to ensure people want to keep coming back.
• Female coaches: One of the participants highlighted the importance of having female coaches for participants to learn from and relate to. She spoke passionately about the positive experience she had at the Kendleshire and how Emma had played a huge role in this.
• A buddy/mentor scheme to give those playing for the first time some confidence.
• Girls Golf Rocks: local delivery of a national programme set up to encourages beginner girls aged 5-18 to learn and play golf in a fun and friendly way.
• Female only group sessions: Some females feel more confident in a female only space.