Over the last few years, local recreation organizations and High School Associations have seen a dramatic increase in participation rates amongst girls playing sports.
According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, there are currently more than 3 million girls playing high school basketball in the US. This is a significant increase from the 1.1 million girls who were playing in 2014, just ten years ago.
The number of girls who participate in a high school softball program is over 300 thousand.
In the past several years nearly 173 thousand girls participated in a high school swimming and diving programs.
According to a report, the number of women’s lacrosse teams in the NCAA grew from 238 in 2001 to 483 in 2018, which is nearly a 203% increase in that time. In 2018, the number of female high-school lacrosse players amounted to almost 95 thousand.
In another report the number of participants (aged six years and older) in field hockey amounted to approximately 1.46 million, many of those young girls.
There are many advantages for girls to participate in sports. According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, girls and women who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self-esteem and lower levels of depression. They also have a more positive body image and experience higher states of psychological well-being than girls and women who do not play sports.
Girls who participate in sports are better at organizing and time management, skills that are helpful for success later in life. Female athletes are better students and show a stronger commitment to their studies. One study showed exercise improves the academic performance of teenagers, and it particularly benefited girls’ performance in science.
What sport does the girl in your life want to play?