Tag: girls get strong

How Sports Impacts The Lives Of Girls And Women Long After Their Playing Days Are Done

Becky Riddle

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“The old adage that sports builds character, mental toughness, teamwork and other intangibles that will last a lifetime appears to be especially true for girls and women.

Team sports offer lessons to girls that they often don’t get elsewhere, experts say. And research shows experience in sports is a common trait among top female business leaders.

“Sports, and particularly team sports, tend to give women and girls things that they otherwise have a hard time getting, like resilience, grit, knowledge of teamwork, knowledge of leadership. All of these things are crucial and they all are learned probably better on a sports team than anywhere else,” said Debora Spar, a professor at Harvard Business School, who moderated a panel about women in sports, leadership and empowerment the school hosted on campus earlier this year.”

See more at WBGH.

Women in Sports are Underrepresented in Science

Becky Riddle

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“Despite the gap, Costello’s study did show that women are represented in exercise science studies in general. But I wondered if the trend was improving — and if the type of study mattered. Are scientists studying women in, say, studies of metabolism, but neglecting them in studies of injury?  I looked at published studies in two top exercise physiology journals and found that women remain under-studied, especially when it comes to studies of performance.”

See more at Science News

The Gender Gap in Sports Injuries

Becky Riddle

“From what you see at the game or on television, you might think that sports injuries are more common among male than female athletes. . . . But, women are actually more prone than men to suffer many of the most common sports-related injuries. There are a variety of reasons for this “gender gap,” and there is much about it that remains uncertain. But the recognition of this gap has led to innovative efforts to prevent injuries among women in sports.”

Read the full article on the Harvard Health Blog.

Sports Coaching Is Still a Male-Dominated Field

Becky Riddle

Atlantic article lead photo

“Of course, for girls, the absence of women coaches means a dearth of female role models in powerful leadership positions. And same-sex role models matter, particularly for women. The University of Toronto social psychologist Penelope Lockwood, who has studied the impact of race and gender in role modeling, found that girls benefit from same-gender role models more acutely than boys. Female role models act as “inspirational examples of success” and “guides to the potential accomplishments for which other women can strive,” Lockwood concluded. …Naturally, the lack of female coaches also signals to girls that coaching is not a career option that’s open to them. If the overwhelming majority of coaches they encounter are men, young women would logically conclude that sports and coaching are better left to the males.”

Read the full article at The Atlantic.