“How many more laps coach?”
“Until I get tired,” my coach shouted back from her warm seat under cover of the stands.
16 years old, running around the track in the rain on a cold, flood-lit Eastern Cape evening, my eyeballs couldn’t have rolled further into the back of my head.
I did every sport I could at school. Sports is an excellent form of exercise. I excelled at some. I was average at the rest. Growing up in a small town in the Eastern Cape, there was very little else to do. My friends and I would spend the afternoons on the fields or the courts, knocking about and coming up with weird and wonderful games and competitions. It was an alternative to chasing the resident donkey down the road and fostered a love of exercise and well-being that we all still value today.
I passionately encourage my own daughter to play as many sports as she can. It fosters a sense of purpose and belonging, but science says it’s the best thing we can do for our girls. Girls who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self-esteem and lower levels of depression. This alone is so vital in today’s society, as we see more and more kids struggling with this. Girls who play sports also have a more positive body image. Physical exercise also helps with concentration and focus, which leads to better results in school. Research shows that girls who play sports are more likely to get higher grades and graduate, than girls who don’t.
The long-term benefits of sports as a form of exercise are appealing too. Playing sport helps girls learn to deal with competition, pressure and deadlines. All prevalent factors in daily life. Sport is where girls learn about teamwork, goal setting, performance and other achievement-oriented behaviours that are critical skills for success in the workplace. 80% of the female executives at Fortune 500 companies played sports at school or university. All the successful women I know, played sport too.
And why wouldn’t we want to encourage our girls to do the things women were previously prevented from doing? Weight-bearing exercise is critical for establishing bone mass, and yet women were not permitted or encouraged to take part in these types of exercises. As a result, 40% of women over the age of 50 suffer from osteoporosis. Only 4 hours of exercise per week could reduce a teenage girl’s risk of breast cancer by up to 60%. Exercise not only keeps them happy, but it also keeps them healthy.
By making small shifts in our lifestyle habits, us adults can make a massive difference in encouraging our girls to get active. Buy your daughter balls and sports equipment from an early age for her to play and try different activities. Consciously watch as much women’s sport on TV as men’s. Thankfully, with the media playing a more active role in covering women’s sport, there are now many more options to watch than before.
If you’re an active adult, exercise with her. The hammies and ankles might not be as strong as they used to be, but shooting hoops, running laps or practicing tackles (hockey OR rugby) will not only encourage your daughter to find the joy and wins from playing sport, you can secretly relive your own glory days, or find joy in playing a sport for the first time.
The biggest impact playing sport had on me was that it taught me to be resilient. Because when you’re too tired to take one more step, you know you can. When you’re a point down in the last few minutes of a match, you know there’s a chance you can still win. And when you get smacked in the face or tripped, you get up and you keep going – because you don’t stop until the final whistle blows.
The world out there is hard. Nothing is free. They’ll hear the word “no” more often than “yes”. And let’s face it, women still face many more challenges in society and in the workplace. Fostering resilience is the best tool you can give your daughter.
To this day, when anyone asks me how much more, how much further or how much longer, my only response is this: until I get tired.
Written by Leandré Kark, Head of Brand Marketing and Communications.
Sources
1. Women’s Sports Foundation
Founded in 1974 by Billie Jean King, the Foundation is dedicated to advancing the lives of girls and women through sports and physical activity.
2. Game On: The Unstoppable Rise of Women’s Sport by Sue Anstiss