Flinders University sport experts say girls discouraged more than boys

Girls are dropping out of sport faster than their male classmates, and experts say it’s because their teachers are sending them very different messages.

Teachers must stop discouraging girls from playing sport in favour of schoolwork if the declining rate of teenagers participating in sport is to be stemmed, a leading Adelaide sports researcher says.

Flinders University Professor Murray Drummond said a survey of about 2500 South Australian school students in years 8, 10 and 12 showed 63 per cent of girls participated in sport, compared to 70 per cent of boys.

He and his team have come up with a series of recommendations aimed to keep girls playing sport, particularly between year 8 and 10 when most dropout occurs, that include offering more support at school for girls to play and encouraging participation in a range of sports.

“While there was very little difference in the proportion of males (23.9 per cent) versus females (26.4 per cent) who did not play any sport in year 8, this gap grew in year 10, with 40 per cent of females no longer playing any sport, compared to 30 per cent of males,” said Prof Drummond, who heads the uni’s Sport, Health, Activity, Performance and Exercise (SHAPE) research centre.

“In speaking with the students, the major factor for leaving sport was balancing school, work (part-time jobs) and other priorities, with girls more likely than boys to drop sport to best utilise their time.

“(They tell us) teachers are saying, ‘maybe girls you should be thinking of exploring your education more so than sport’ … there are less social pressures on boys to disengage from their sport.”

Yet the interviews with girls found they “gained a lot of positives from playing sport, including cultivating friendships, feeling fit and strong and enjoying a sense of competition and winning”.

The study also found playing sport was associated with higher levels of both resilience and body appreciation.

Blackwood High School student netballers are encouraged to balance playing sport with academia. Picture Dean Martin

Prof Drummond said while some schools had strong sports programs for girls, many did not.

He said simple changes, such as allowing flexibility around assessments for kids heavily involved in sport, would help.

“There needs to be an open relationship between coaches, sports programs, teachers, parents and students … (so) if they have to change assessment criteria, such as a due date, that they can occur,” he said.

It is an approach embraced at Blackwood High School which offers a specialist netball program to about 145 students from years 7 to 11.

“Every day we encourage open and honest communication with our students about where they are at, how they are balancing their schoolwork with participating in school and club sport competitions,” the school’s netball manager Peta Maher said.

“What we see is really good self-esteem levels, leadership, communication aspects, group dynamics, the ability to overcome different differences in personality, resilience building … there is just a whole range of skills (from participating in sport).”

Year 11 student Kelly McArdle, 17, agreed, saying: “Netball gives me a good support system and the skills I use are transferable to my schooling.”

The survey found the top five most played sports for girls were netball, followed by volleyball, Australian rules football, dancing and soccer.