Transforming the quagmire: reimagining girls’ sport and physical activity

Katie Sullivan Barak

Chapter 6 in Reimagining the Gendering of Sport, 2025, pp 86-106 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Research shows that sport participation positively impacts girls’ physical health, self-confidence, social connection, academics, and so much more. But despite this reality, many girls drop out of sport by their teen years or avoid sport overall. This chapter uses critical feminist theory and stakeholder analysis to map the forces impacting girls’ sport participation, revealing a quagmire of dysfunction. This cartography includes internal negotiations of gender identity, external factors such as social and familial acceptance, as well as institutional influences like organizational best practices, staffing and coaching support, and media representations. By exploring tensions among stakeholders, it is clear that girls, the stakeholders with the most to gain (and lose), are frequently not the center of choices being made around girls’ sport. Their enjoyment, skill development, and positive personal growth are not top priorities. I conclude by investigating ideological and institutional components that must change in order to begin reimagining girls’ sport.

Keywords: Girls; Sport; Youth sport; Sport institutions; Sport stakeholder; Sport and gender; Sport culture (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035310203
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