Why today’s Government school sport announcement matters for gymnastics – and the importance of giving girls a positive experience of sport

The Government today announced plans to give a huge boost to school sport - and a commitment to providing equal opportunities for girls as well as boys in school sport.

Here, Sarah Parker, British Gymnastics' Gymnast Experience Manager, explains why this announcement matters for gymnastics and the role our sport can play, as well as the importance of ensuring girls feel they belong in sport following research published by Women in Sport.

Schools play a critical role in sport and physical activity – if we are to address inactivity levels in our nation and get more people leading an active, healthy and happy life, then for so many of us, school is where it all starts.

That’s why, after extensive lobbying for it, today’s Government announcement of a £600m funding package for school sport has been widely welcomed across the sector, and particularly so by gymnastics. 

Having spent a large part of my time at British Gymnastics focussed on developing gymnastics in schools, this is an area I am incredibly passionate about. The news today is hugely positive for our sport, and provides an opportunity to build on the progress we've seen over recent years for gymnastics in schools.

As a foundation sport that helps hundreds of thousands of children, and particularly girls, get active each year, this announcement is a fantastic platform for gymnastics to help even more young people start their journey towards an active life.

Gymnastics: providing a vital introduction to physical literacy

That’s because gymnastics provides a vital introduction to physical literacy, enabling us to physically explore and discover what our bodies can do. Gymnastics develops fundamental movement patterns, providing a platform that can lead to a whole range of other sports and paths, and builds life skills such as resilience and determination, creating positive experiences that can stay with you for life.

The news therefore that the Government is renewing the Primary PE and Sport Premium will allow primary schools to improve the quality of PE and sports, including the delivery of gymnastics, to help children benefit from regular activity. Importantly, today’s announcement also includes a recommendation of two hours of curriculum PE delivery each week as a minimum.

Recent research conducted by the Youth Sport Trust highlighted the potential impact should the funding not have been confirmed. This included three in four schools (73%) being unable to maintain their current physical activity and after-school sport offer, at a time when fewer than half of all young people in England meet the minimum recommended activity level of 60 minutes a day.

School Games to continue to deliver Rise gymnastics

There will also be continued funding for the nationwide network of 450 School Games Organisers. With Rise gymnastics having been adopted as the new School Games format for gymnastics, this will see young girls and boys taking part in an exciting, fun packed programme that provides a progressive journey through recreational gymnastics, helping them to achieve results at their own pace and build key foundation skills.

Further positive news announced today includes a new fund to support the opening up of school sport facilities outside of school hours, with a particular focus on underrepresented groups, and a timely commitment to coincide with International Women’s Day to providing equal opportunities for both girls and boys in terms of access to sports in schools.

Our thanks go to the Youth Sport Trust, Sport and Recreation Alliance and ukactive who have all helped to lobby for these measures on our behalf.

We must ensure girls feel they belong in sport

Today’s Government announcement follows on from eye-opening research published earlier this week by Women in Sport uncovering why girls as young as five years old don’t feel they belong in sport.

Last night I represented gymnastics at an event in Parliament to mark International Women's Day, and as great as it is to see the progress that has been made in women's sport in recent years, this is an issue we really must address if we are to ensure sport is as much a place for women and girls as it is for men and boys.

The report, ‘Sport, stereotypes and stolen dreams: Why girls still feel they don’t belong in sport’, found that girls are being bombarded by messages and labels that undermine their self-belief, crush their confidence, and make them feel as though sport is not a place for them. Over half of parents (57%) of girls said their daughter had felt excluded from sport. Of those 26% said their daughter had been told, ‘it wasn’t for girls’. When asked if they’d describe their child as ‘sporty’ just 27% of parents of daughters agreed, compared to 37% of parents of boys.  

The research discovered young girls are internalising gender stereotypes and negative messaging which can make them feel as though there is limited value in taking part in sport and physical activity. Previous research has found that 75% of girls have heard negative remarks about girls or women in sport from peers, family members, teachers and coaches. Phrases like; ‘sport isn’t for girly girls’, ‘girls are delicate’ and ‘you throw like a girl’ can reinforce negative perceptions around physical strength, capability and potential.

The long-term consequences of this can be difficult to reverse. By the time girls reach 17-18 years old just 28% describe themselves as ‘sporty’, compared with 58% of boys. This gap continues into their adult lives, with women and girls of every age group being less active than men and boys. Girls are also far less likely to enjoy participating in sport than boys. Sadly, the survey found fewer than a quarter (23%) of parents would describe their daughter as resilient.

'Getting it right at an early age is key'

Women in Sport have put forward five factors of success to help change this narrative and create a positive environment to enable girls to develop a passion for being active, with everyone playing a part. Getting it right at an early age is key. We need to nurture girls’ competence and self-belief from a young age to build resilience and kick-start a life-long love of being active.

Once again therefore, as an activity that can often be the first experience young girls have of sport and being active, gymnastics has a particularly important role to play in helping to achieve this. If through gymnastics their first experience of physical activity is a positive one, they are more likely to stay active and so as a sport, gymnastics can help to drive the change needed to address this.

If you have any questions or queries, we'd welcome anyone getting in touch with us about anything I've covered in this piece - please just email us at community@british-gymnastics.org.

Sarah

Find Out More:

School Sport announcement

The full Government package for school sport announced today includes:

• equal access to sports in school – setting out that offering girls and boys the same sports, where it is wanted is the new standard.
• delivering a minimum two hours of curriculum PE –with more support being offered through a refreshed School Sport Action Plan.
• expansion of the Schools Games Mark - to reward parity of provision for girls - this kitemark scheme, delivered by the Youth Sport Trust, recognises schools that create positive sporting experiences across all sports for young people, supporting them to be active for 60 minutes a day.
• over £600 million across the next two years for the PE and Sport Premium – a funding commitment to improve the quality of PE and sports in primary schools to help children benefit from regular activity.
• a new digital tool for PE and Sport Premium – to support schools in using the funding to the best advantage of their pupils.
• £22 million for two years of further funding for the School Games Organiser network (SGO) - Annually the 450 strong SGO workforce supports 2.2m participation opportunities for children including 28,000 competitive school sport events.
• up to £57 million funding for the opening school facilities programme - to open up more school sport facilities outside of school hours especially targeted at girls, disadvantaged pupils and pupils with special educational needs.

You can read the full announcement here.

Women in Sport report

Women in Sport’s five factors for success, are:

1. Surround girls with the expectation that they will succeed: Parents, teachers and peers must help to change the narrative by showing that they value girls taking part in sport and expressing expectations that they will do well.
2. Build girls’ skills early so there’s a level playing field: Encourage, expect, and support girls from a young age to master the fundamental skills they need to succeed in sport. Skills give sport meaning for girls, make competition fairer and success more attainable, building and sustaining self-belief.
3. Don’t ‘dumb it down’ for girls: Stop the messaging of young girls being fragile, weak and not liking competition. Instead reinforce the expectation that they can be courageous, powerful and fearless in their own way and are expected to be, and can be, good at sport.
4. Provide more opportunities for young girls: Girls need to have as many opportunities as boys in school PE, after-school clubs and in the community, particularly in team sport. Opportunities must be visible, accessible and create an environment where girls are genuinely welcomed and equally valued.
5. Harness the school and after school environment: Teachers and coaches need to invest in closing the skills and confidence gaps between boys and girls. Use school to embed the right attitudes amongst boys towards girls in sport, so there is greater appreciation, value and respect for girls playing sport.

You can read more about Women in Sport’s research published this week and download the ‘Sport, stereotypes and stolen dreams: Why girls still feel they don’t belong in sport’ report, here.