Girls enjoy convention but want more sport options in school

Feedback from last week’s Girls Get Active Convention will help the Guernsey Sports Commission decide how it supports girls’ PE in the island’s secondary schools in the future.

‘It was a really enjoyable day with lots of excellent feedback which will help inform our ongoing discussions with schools and sports clubs about how to encourage teenage girls to remain active and enjoy sport,’ said Nicky Will from the Commission.

‘It’s clear that there are lots of reasons why girls fall out of love with sport as they enter their teenage years but those who attended our convention have given us some strong messages about the challenges they face in trying to be physically active.’

Nearly 60 year 9 girls from La Mare de Carteret High, Les Beaucamps High, St Sampson’s High and the Grammar School attended the event and took part in a range of different sports including boxing, dance, cricket, a netball-based strength and conditioning workshop and also a session on how to workout at home.

All bar one of the girls who completed the feedback forms agreed or strongly agreed that they enjoyed participating in the activities with around two thirds saying they found an activity they would like to try again.

The day also featured a discussion session where the girls responded to a number of questions about what age they were when they were most physically active and what sports they did at the time, along with asking them to think about what schools could either stop doing, or do more of, to make physical activity more enjoyable.

‘We are still working through the detailed feedback but it’s interesting to note that a lot of the girls felt that boys were given priority in sport at school and appeared to have more options to choose from,’ said Nicky

‘Girls wanted to do the same sports as boys, but not necessarily playing alongside them and there were some comments about wanting ‘girls only’ PE lessons or activities.

‘They wanted a greater variety of sports to try and wanted it to be fun, to pick their own teams and be able to choose the sports they did.’

The girls also came up with a number of suggestions for new after school sports clubs although many of them said they struggled to find time to take part in physical activity, found transport difficult or expensive and would like to go to clubs with their friends.

‘Enjoyment and improving motivation and self-confidence were definitely two of the key drivers for being more active,’ said Nicky.

‘It was great to read that the girls were proud of taking part and trying all the activities on offer. They really appreciated the goodie bag of treats they were all given thanks to our amazing sponsors, Sovereign Group, Investec, Ogier and the Sarah Groves Foundation.

‘The Sports Commission would like to thank all our inspirational female sports coaches who gave up their time to be part of the day and encourage the girls to enjoy the event.’

The Commission plans to make the convention an annual event.