Participation in Team Sports Has Life-Long Benefits for Girls
By Staff Writer
When Title IX was enacted in 1972, the goal was to provide equal opportunities to girls in high school and college athletics. More than 30 years later, the benefits of Title IX have continued beyond the soccer field, tennis court and swimming pool to create a positive impact well into adulthood.
Two separate studies have shown that team sports can result in life-long improvements to a woman's education, career and health. The first study, by Betsey Stevenson, an economist at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, found that Title IX accounted for:
- About 20 percent of the increase in women's education
- About 40 percent of the rise in employment for 25- to 34-year-old women
"It's not just that the people who are going to do well in life play sports, but that sports help people do better in life," said Stevenson in a Feb. 15, 2010, New York Times article by Tara Parker-Pope. "While I only show this for girls, it's reasonable to believe it's true for boys as well."
The second study, by Robert Kaestner, an economics professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, looked at the effect of Title IX on women's health. The study, published in the journal Evaluation Review, determined that Title IX accounted for a 7 percent lower risk of obesity 20 to 25 years later in those women who participated in sports after Title IX was enacted. The study also found that those women had a lower body mass index (BMI) and reported being more physically active.
Playing sports has several other long-term benefits for girls. According to The Women's Sports Foundation, girls who participate in team sports:
- Are more likely to get better grades in school and graduate
- Are less likely to become unintentionally pregnant
- Experience a reduction in the risk of breast cancer by up to 60 percent through as little as four hours of exercise a week
- Are less likely to develop osteoporosis when they age because they can build bone mass through weight-bearing exercises
- Have higher levels of confidence and self-esteem and lower levels of depression
- Have a more positive body image and healthier psychological well-being
- Learn teamwork, goal-setting and the value of achievement
Getting Your Daughter to Stick with Sports
Getting girls involved with sports is not the problem. In fact, the Women's Sports Foundation found that boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 9 are equally interested in participating in sports.
What is difficult, however, is getting girls to continue playing sports. By the age of 14, girls drop out of sports at a rate that is six times greater than boys, according to the foundation. That statistic can be attributed to boys generally receiving more encouragement (by, for example, receiving sports equipment as gifts), seeing images of male athletes in the sports section of media and an expectation that they will play sports.
"Rather than seeing a certain age as a proper threshold for starting girls in sports, we encourage parents to see sports, movement, and physical activity as an inherent part of their daughters' lives from day one," said Jean Zimmerman and Gil Reavill, authors of Raising Our Athletic Daughters, in an interview on FamilyEducation.com. "The most important thing that parents can do is give their daughters basic athletic skills and the 'permission' to express themselves physically."
Here are some ways you can encourage your daughter to stick with sports:
- Make it Fun. Don't ever put pressure on your daughter to take up a sport, or to be the best at it. Let her try a few things until she finds the best fit or the one she enjoys the most. The less it feels like a chore or something her parents expect of her, the more enjoyable participating will be.
- Be Supportive. Encourage your daughter to participate in a sport she enjoys by giving her gifts of sports equipment and lessons and showing up for games. Hearing your voice cheering her on in the stands will boost her self-esteem and encourage her to excel.
- Get Active as a Family. Girls who have a parent involved in sports are more likely to get involved in sports themselves. Make it a habit to take your daughter running with you or go for a family bike ride after dinner. Integrating sports into your family activities will make it second nature.
- Provide Role Models. While it's good for your daughter to see you participating in a sport you enjoy, it's also good for her to see other women playing sports so that they grow up appreciating the sports skills of women. Take your daughter to games with female athletes or have her view some female sports on television or the Internet. These role models may inspire your daughter to get involved with a sport or try something new.
Encouraging your daughter to get involved with a sport will do wonders for her self-confidence, health and ability to achieve.
New Leaf Academy all-girls boarding school specializes in helping girls gain social skills and maturity and make lasting friendships. Girls at New Leaf Academy engage in a wide variety of social and recreational activities as a way to practice the social skills they are learning.