Play Their Way to tackle gender enjoyment gap as Lionesses look to inspire a generation of girls

UK Coaching is spearheading the delivery of the Play Their Way campaign and is proud to be part of the 17-strong Children's Coaching Collaborative (CCC) – a collective of like-minded organisations, committed to creating a nation of child-first coaches. Child-first coaching, where coaches focus on championing every child's voice, choice and journey in sport and physical activity, aims to address this enjoyment gap and ensure positive experiences for every young person by empowering the people who know them best – their coaches. 

Sport England's most recent Active Lives survey showed that there are 100,000 more girls playing regular football than there were five years ago, and in the three months following the Women's Euros last summer, England Football reported a 196% increase in womens' and girls' football session bookings.

However, despite this and an anticipated significant increase in interest during and after the World Cup, there remains an enjoyment gap between boys and girls when it comes to sport. Currently, 56.8% of boys agree they enjoy taking part in exercise and sport compared to just 37.2% of girls, which contributes to 43% of girls disengaging from sport following primary school having previously been active.

Taking a proactive approach ahead of a major sporting moment, the CCC is helping coaches to prepare for an influx of young girls into the sport with practical child-first coaching resources that help coaches put their participants' voice, choice, journey, rights and needs at the centre of their early sporting experiences. This is key to creating positive experiences that will encourage and motivate them to stay active throughout life.

As part of the drive to champion child-first coaching that prioritises great first experiences for all young girls, former Lioness Laura Bassett returned to her first-ever club Bedworth United for a best-practice coaching session, introducing girls to the sport for the very first time.

Reflecting on a standard-setting child-first session back at her home club, Laura said:

"The Women’s World Cup will inspire even more girls to try football for the first time. Collectively we need to make sure that those first experiences for girls are inclusive, enjoyable, and fun."

Research undertaken last year with 4,000 girls by leading charity and CCC partner, Women in Sport, also revealed that 90% of girls rated 'having fun and feeling happy' as the most important reason for being physically active.

Head of Coaching at UK Coaching Heather Douglas emphasises the significance of creating impactful initial encounters for girls in sport and encourages coaches to adopt a child-first coaching approach.

Head of Girls Football & Welfare Lead at Bedworth United Hayley Bennett said:

"Our coaches always take a child-first approach and as a result, our young girls are free to express themselves when they play football. Women's football has grown exponentially over the last few years and we have an important opportunity to inspire a generation of girls into sport – but it is so important that we ensure those all-important first experiences are positive and uplifting."

The Play Their Way campaign was launched in May to transform the way children and young people are coached by prioritising their rights, needs and enjoyment in a 'child-first' approach. The campaign is funded by Sport England and The National Lottery and is led by the 17 partner organisations that make up the CCC.