{"id":7802,"date":"2023-09-07T08:00:49","date_gmt":"2023-09-07T07:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ladyliga.ru\/?page_id=7802"},"modified":"2023-09-08T19:20:21","modified_gmt":"2023-09-08T18:20:21","slug":"mixed-sex-sport","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ladyliga.ru\/creating-change\/policy-positions\/mixed-sex-sport\/","title":{"rendered":"Mixed-Sex Sport"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What does Women in Sport think about <\/span>m<\/span>ixed-<\/span>s<\/span>ex<\/span> s<\/span>port<\/span> for <\/span>children and young people<\/span>?<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Mixed-sex sport is a growing part of the sporting eco-system, including at school and in community sport settings such as local clubs. At Women in Sport, our vision is that no-one is excluded from the joy, fulfilment and lifelong benefits of sport, but all too frequently girls and women are. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Where mixed-sex sport is happening, we want to make it work for girls. We also want to protect female-only provision where that\u2019s the best option for girls, which it is in many cases.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks to our near 40-year experience of listening to and deeply understanding the lives of girls and women, we understand both the biological realities and the limiting gender stereotypes that girls and women face. We understand the ways that these affect, and sometimes limit, girls\u2019 and women\u2019s participation in and love for sport.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All of this has an impact on when, and whether, mixed-sex sport works for girls.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Primary school<\/span> age<\/span>: <\/span>mixed-sex sport <\/span>can work, but mind the (skills) <\/span>gap<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
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\"A<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/b><\/h4>\n

For young children, mixed-sex sport can be a positive thing for both girls and boys. There is an opportunity to create a mutually supportive and respectful environment from a very young age if mixed-sex sport is delivered in the right way. At this age sport not only develops important fundamental movement skills, it also shapes attitudes towards physical activity. In school, at primary level, due to limited teaching capacity it is also usually not practical to separate girls and boys for PE lessons in the way it might be for community sport settings. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However<\/span>, to get this right, teachers and coaches must recognise that there are important differences between the sexes even at this age, both as a result of biology and stereotyping.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Biology<\/span><\/b>: Even before puberty boys have a physical advantage. Baby boys are born larger on average and have more testosterone in their system both from the womb and from \u201cboys\u2019 mini puberty\u201d at about six months of age. Testosterone affects speed, strength and stamina. Although some aspects can even out as children get older because girls enter puberty younger, boys will on average be slightly faster and stronger than girls throughout the primary school age bracket. This is something that must be recognised when managing mixed sport, at this age, principally to avoid demotivating the girls.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"AStereotyping<\/span><\/b>: At this age, perhaps the biggest factor is stereotyping. <\/span>Our research shows<\/span> that gender stereotyping is still very evident<\/a> and affects children from a very young age. Whether subconsciously or overtly, and by a range of voices across society, girls are told that they are delicate, and should be kind and careful not to get dirty, rather than brave or daring. These limiting expectations mean that girls are exposed to less sport and physical activity from an early age. Girls at this age already have a disadvantage in fundamental movement skills compared to their male peers. This gap can then be widened due to gender stereotyping being reinforced, again often subconsciously, by teachers, coaches and peers. Girls can quickly get stuck in a vicious cycle of a (perceived) lack of skill affecting their confidence, making them less likely to join in and, in turn, less likely to develop the skill. The sense of failure and lack of belonging this inspires is a major factor in why so many girls fall out of love with sport. In reality, it is not girls that are failing but the stereotypes they\u2019re surrounded by and the systems these stereotypes inspire. This skills gap needs to be recognised and rectified \u2013 and absolutely not reinforced – if girls are to stand a chance of enjoying sport with the boys.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What does Women in Sport think about mixed-sex sport for children and young people?\u00a0 Mixed-sex sport is a growing part of the sporting eco-system, including at school and in community sport settings such as local clubs. At Women in Sport, our vision is that no-one is excluded from the joy, fulfilment and lifelong benefits of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":1383,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","inline_featured_image":false},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ladyliga.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7802"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ladyliga.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ladyliga.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ladyliga.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ladyliga.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7802"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/ladyliga.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7862,"href":"https:\/\/ladyliga.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/7802\/revisions\/7862"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ladyliga.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ladyliga.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}