She’s got it all:
talent, determination, and barriers men don’t have to worry about.
When it comes to sport, women and girls have got it all, and then some. Unfortunately, they also have an extra set of challenges that men and boys do not. These challenges continue to prevent women and girls from staying in sport. Canadian Women & Sport is committed to supporting women and girls and helping everyone involved in sport understand those challenges so we can tackle them together.
Change Starts Here
To help keep more girls and women in sport, things need to change. And we all have a role to play. Here are some ideas for what you can do to better understand how women and girls experience sport and how to support them:
Coaches
Prioritize social connection among your athletes rather than encouraging them to compare and compete against each other. When girls feel accepted by their peers, it enhances their individual and group performance and keeps them in sport longer.
Parents/Guardians
Expose your daughter to positive role models. Girls are more likely to play sport if their parents participate, so that role model could be you. They could also be athletes in the WNBA or in your local hockey league, or successful women in adjacent spaces like fitness and nutrition.
Administrators
Help increase the representation of women in leadership roles across sport by establishing targets and appropriate plans for recruiting and advancing women as coaches, officials and senior leaders.
Allies
Speak up! Be vocal about equitable access for ALL girls and women with respect to programs, facilities, equipment, quality coaching, and leadership opportunities. Anyone can act as an ally in solidarity with others who face more barriers to sport than they do.
Corporations and Media
Make a commitment to increase representation of diverse women in sport media both in the content you produce and behind the scenes, and commit to investing in the future of women’s sport.
Together, we can change the game.
Explore and download our poster and sticker options to post wherever you play, move, and compete to help spread the word. We love partnering with sports to provide relevant messaging and to help get the message out. Don’t see your sport reflected? Contact us!