Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean. Getting more women and girls doing regular sport and physical activity is not a new phenomenon, but one that has been given renewed drive in recent years. Here, Sport Wales Director of Sport Graham Williams explains some of the work and the next steps on the road to get more females moving.
As Sport England launch their new �This Girl Can� campaign it has given me time to pause and reflect on the work we�ve done in Wales to boost female participation. Changing attitudes and culture towards sport is critical if we are to see a rise in the number of women and girls participating in sport.
Let�s face it this isn�t a new issue. It�s one that we�ve wrestled with for a long time.
There has been good news when we look at female participation in Wales. In fact, we have bucked the UK-wide trend. By gender, the figures for the number of adults hooked on sport (being active 3 times a week or more) are 46% male and 32% female. The comparative figures for 2008/09 were 35% male and 24% female. So women�s regular participation is growing quicker than men�s � but both are going in the right direction.
We know that, up to secondary school age, the numbers of boys and girls playing sport is almost identical. But at the age of around 12 or 13 begins a divide that lasts into adulthood. What happens at that point to begin the drift away from sport?
The gender gap has been there for a generation and it won�t be easy to bridge. The success we�ve had recently is a start but we realise the vast amount of work that still needs to be done.
One thing is certain, it will take some team effort, innovative thinking and strong decision-making if we are to totally change the habits of several generations.
It is why we believe every child having a positive experience of physical activity from an early age is critical. It is only when we equip all people with the physical skills and the confidence to take part in sport that we will see the major gains we�re looking for. Children have told us in their masses that if they have the ability, confidence and enjoyment of sport they are more likely to take part.
For me, and many others I speak to, the solution is staring us in the face.
Surely a woman sat on her sofa at home is more like to turn off the TV and head for the local leisure centre if she knows how to swim, can use a tennis racquet or catch and throw a netball? All skills that should be embedded at child and teenage years.
Our Young Ambassadors programme now has more than 1,200 girls and young women trained and deployed as leaders at schools in Wales, tasked with profiling and advocating sport for their peers. We�re finding this to be a fantastic breeding ground for the next set of sports leaders and administrators.
Marketing campaigns will play their part. In 2014 we ran our own �What Moves You?� campaign to showcase the range of opportunities out there and dispel some of the myths around sport and exercise.
We found if what you offer is appealing, and you promote it correctly, then women will come in their numbers. Examples such as Diva Sport, Holyhead and Anglesey Weightlifting and Fitness Centre and Merthyr Running Club show that when you get the offer right it can make a big impact.
The evidence we have points to how women and girls like to access sport and exercise. While males are more likely to be members of �pure� sports clubs, females are more likely than males to be joining leisure and fitness centres. The social aspects are appealing, the option to choose when to exercise and the different kinds of activities on offer all make for a healthy equation. Even at secondary school, more girls use leisure centres than boys.
This is fundamental insight when we look at attracting new people and keeping them active. It also points to females being far more vulnerable to cuts in leisure provision.
Moving forward, decisions will be made in the next few weeks on the successful applicants for our Calls4Action grant funding. On top of the �32m a year we invest into Welsh sport annually, we pledged an extra �1.5m for projects that could significantly increase female participation (that�s as well as an �1.5m for young people living in poverty, people with a disability and people from a BME background).
From the applications we�re excited by the ideas, thinking and enthusiasm from a whole host of traditional and new partners for Sport Wales.
If we keep doing the same things and offering what we�ve always offered then it�s inevitable we�ll get the same results. We�re asking our partners to be innovative, use the insight from the research we�ve done into behaviour and attitudes and make sure you�re meeting the needs of people who must be seen as customers.
Projects such as cycling�s Breeze network is one example of how sport is adapting its offer and thinking through how to promote itself to a new audience.
On top of that we�ve got our rolling commitment to offer projects based on women and girls activity to access double the amount of community chest grant every year.
The team approach will be key and that includes working with and listening to women and girls. It is only by working together that we will truly be successful. We have such a good starting point to work from and we are up for the next chapter of hard work.
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