25 Benefits of Girls in Sports

1 Sports are FUN.

2 Girls and women who play sports have a more
positive body image than girls and women who
don’t participate.

3 Girls who participate in sports have higher
self-esteem and pride in themselves.

4 Research suggests that physical activity is an
effective tool for reducing the symptoms of
stress and depression among girls.

5 Playing sports teaches girls how to take risks
and be assertive.

6 Sport is where girls can learn goal-setting,
strategic thinking and the pursuit of excellence
in performance - critical skills necessary for
success in the workplace.

7 Playing sports teaches mathematic skills.

8 Sports help girls develop leadership skills.

9 Sports teach girls team-work.

10 Regular physical activity in adolescence
can reduce girls’ risk for obesity.

11 Physical activity appears to decrease
the initiation of cigarette smoking in
adolescent girls.

12 Research suggests that girls who participate
in sports are more likely to experience
academic success and stay in school
than those who do not play sports.

13 Teenage girls who do sport are less likely to
get pregnant than teenage girls who do not
do sport.

14 Teenage girls who do sport are more likely to
report that they have never had sex than those
girls who do not do any sport.

15 Teenage girls who do sport are more likely to
experience their first sexual intercourse later
in their teens than girls who do not do sport.

16 Teenage sports participation may help prevent
osteoporosis.

17 Women who exercise report being happier
than those who do not exercise.

18 Women who exercise believe they have more
energy and felt they were in excellent health
more often than non-exercising women.

19 Women who are active in sports and
recreational activities as girls feel greater
confidence in their physical and social selves
than those who were sedentary as girls.

20 Women who exercise miss fewer days of work.

21 Research supports that regular physical activity
can reduce hyperlipidemia (high levels of fat
in blood).

22 Recreational physical activity may decrease a
woman’s chance of developing breast cancer.

23 Women who exercise weigh less than
non-exercising women.

24 Women who exercise have lower levels
of blood sugar, cholesterol, triglycerides
and have lower blood pressure than
non-exercising women.

25 Regular exercise improves the overall
quality of life.


Reproduced from the Women’s Sports Foundation, USA www.womenssportsfoundation.org