She Got Game

She Got Game is an Erasmus+ project which aims to increase girls’ engagement in physical activity.

She Got Game is a follow-up to a previous Erasmus+ project, ‘Changing the Game by Changing its Players’. The previous project showed that the number one issue that many European youth work and community sport organisations struggle with is girls’ participation.

The objective of the She Got Game programme is to encourage community sport organisations and coaches to think and act differently on how to design, implement and evaluate interventions for teenage girls in order to increase their engagement.

Key to the approach of this project is to see the girls as assets to be supported rather than problems to be solved. The project starts from the viewpoint that to meet the needs of girls, sport and physical activity organisations require support to change their thinking and practices. Sport needs to become more diverse and inclusive and girls should be involved in designing and implementing activities.

She Got Game is a partnership of three sports NGOs, a governmental sports organisation and a university, spanning four European countries: Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and the UK.

Organisational Change resources

These resources have been designed to help you unpick the issues around girls’ engagement in sport and provide your organisation with a training process that will be informative, enlightening but also potentially ‘disruptive’: disrupting the cycle of young women’s dis-engagement from sport and physical activity.

Organisational Change Guidebook

This guidebook has been designed to facilitate a process of reflection within your organisation in order to recognise the challenges posed in engaging young women and girls into sport and physical activity.

Organisational Change E-Learning Course

Recorded webinar sessions, written resources and reflective tasks to enable your organisation to reflect on current practices, consider the vision for what you want to achieve, and support your workforce to implement different approaches.

Girls Engagement Guidebook resources

This easy-to-use guide takes learnings from a wide range of organisations, along with ideas and inputs from coaches and girls, and translates them into actionable tools and tips on how to involve and engage girls in sport and get them moving!

Guidebook

Girls Engagement Guidebook

The guide provides tips, suggestions and answers to your questions about how to attract and include more girls in your sessions.

Video

Video: Be Welcoming

Create a fun, supportive and trusting atmosphere. Set norms and expectations that foster a safe space where everyone feels confident that they will not be judged for showing up as they are.

Video

Video: Be Supportive

A trustful relationship between the coach and the girls is essential. As a coach you must be curious and emphatic and listen to the girls. Girls may need to talk about off-the-field issues.

Video

Video: Be Adaptable

It is important to make sure to bridge the girls’ different levels and to pay attention to the girls who are beginners and might need some extra support. A sport or activity that requires very specific and multiple skills at once can be difficult for girls who are not experienced in doing sports.

Video

Video: Be Inclusive

Create a safe space where the girls can be themselves, and where it is acceptable to fail. Encourage the girls to be brave, not perfect. Positive performance is about showing the girls how to be good team players, to encourage each other, and cheer each other on.

Video

Video: Be Reliable

A good coaching team is important for a successful sport activity. Make sure to maintain stability both in terms of keeping a minimum of cancelled trainings but also in regard to the coaches.

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Video: Be Social

Maintain a sport setting that supports positive social experiences within the setting and outside of sport. Feeling a sense of acceptance and group belonging and having opportunities to build and cultivate friendships strengthens continued motivation and participation.

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Video: Be Encouraging

Feeling confident about playing and developing new skills instead of how well one performs in competition are key individual factors to fuel motivation and support girls’ participation in sport. Explore different ways for the girls to progress.

Video

Video: Be Collaborative

Create a culture where it is natural for the girls to speak up and give feedback and inputs. As a coach you must be willing and able to adapt to the girls' wants and needs and involve the girls in defining the activities.

Useful links and further reading

Factors that impact upon the participation of girls and young women in sport and physical activity: A Review of Evidence

This review explores previous bodies of knowledge relating to the participation of girls in sport and physical activity, and combines this information with the empirical research undertaken by StreetGames, ISA, GAME and Stad Antwerpen on selected community sport organisations.

A knowledge and inspiration catalogue: Making sports facilities more attractive to girls

Designing sports facilities and environments that are attractive to girls is an important step in strengthening girls’ participation in sports and physical activity. Find learnings and insights on how to develop and design physical frameworks for sports that meet the needs of girls.

Toolkit on Gender-sensitive Communication

Women play an active role in society, yet – all too often – we use language that ignores or minimises their contribution. This toolkit is a guide for policymakers, legislators, media and anyone else with an interest in making their communication more inclusive on how to use more gender-sensitive language.

Gender Sensitive Programming Action Kit: The guide to mainstreaming gender in your organisation

This Gender Action Kit will take you through the basics of incorporating gender equity into organisations and programmes.

European Us Girls

Resources designed to help organisations to better understand the development process for female peer leaders, to help drive participation.

Leadership and Economic Empowerment Through Sport Guidelines

A guide to how we can use sport to develop the leadership and economic empowerment of adolescent girls.

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