VICTORIA (NEWS 1130) – More and more young girls are leaving organized sports in BC.
Parliamentary Secretary of Sports and Multiculturalism Ravi Kahlon says by the age of 13, girls are dropping out at twice the rate of boys the same age.
He says that’s because of self esteem issues and lack of support at home.
“Girls at this stage at life, 13-14, face tremendous pressures with social media, peer pressure, all these things combines to make it more challenging to keep girls in sports. I always say to parents, ‘let kids play, let them have fun’,” he says, adding a lot of times it starts well before a girl hits the age of 10.
“If you have a boy and a girl playing in mud, the likelihood of parents telling the girl to come out is higher. If kids are playing in trees, we would tell the girls, ‘hey, don’t climb the trees, you’re going to get hurt.’ But if a boy does it, it’s just ‘boys being boys’.”
Kahlon worked as a coach for more than 20 years and says he’s witnessed the decline of women in sports himself–something he would categorize as “crisis-level”.
He says girls’ athletic abilities start falling behind after the age of seven, and only continues on with age.
“It’s a complex issue and we need to get at it,” he says.
“Sport is about making better people, and people better. It’s about letting kids participate and letting kids have fun.”
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