Giving girls the chance to play ball...or whatever sport she wants to play!

Came across a great article in the Carroll County Times by Bob Blubaugh and it got me to thinking more about girls and sports.

WHY don't more girls play sports?

So then I came across another great article called, "Why don't more girls play sports?"

Below you'll see an article taken from the Women's Sports Foundation called, 25 Benefits of Girls Playing Sports. It points out that girls who play sports are less likely to get involved in smoking, drugs, and will wait until later for their first sexual experience, among other great benefits.

My question is this...once girls get into high school how many sports can they pick from? Compare that to the guys choices. Also girls playing sports in high school drops off dramatically from junior high. Our girls are becoming women, they should act like one right?! Not like a tomboy anymore. AND YET, playing sports will by far be the best thing a young girl can do for herself.

What's so ironic here is that we see and KNOW there are benefits to girls playing sports, yet we don't want them to get hurt. However we're more likely to let the boys get hurt. That doesn't seem to bother us as much.

Another thing is this, what female sport role models do our girls have to look up to? Who are they, where are they?

I feel the best thing we can do for our girls is to expose them to as many female oriented athletes that we can. Take them to games, get them excited about playing sports.

I was talking to one of my co-workers the other day about going to a WNBA game and he said that he actually liked watching women play basketball because it's more about the game instead of all the antics and tricks that you see the guys do.

This month try to make it a priority to take your daughter, niece, sister, your friends daughter...whoever you can, and take them to a professional woman's game in your area. I think you're going to enjoy it a whole lot more than you though you would.

25 Benefits of Girls Playing 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 aggressive.
6. Sport is where girls can learn goal-setting, strategic thinking and the pursuit of excellence in performance and other achievement-oriented behaviors - critical skills necessary for success in the workplace.
7. Playing sports teaches math 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 adolescents girls.
12. Research suggests that girls who participate in sports are more likely to experience academic success and graduate from high school than those who do not play sports.
13. Teenage female athletes are less than half as likely to get pregnant as female non-athletes (5% and 11% respectively).
14. Teenage female athletes are more likely to report that they had never had sexual intercourse than non-athletes (54% and 41%).
15. Teenage female athletes are more likely to experience their first sexual intercourse later in adolescence than female non-athletes.
16. High school 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 kids.
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.
-- Compiled by the Women's Sports Foundation 1999.For full citations please contact the Women's Sports Foundation (800) 227-3988.Copyright(c)WSF