Too many girls in Canada are missing out on sports, research finds

New research suggests girls are falling behind boys when it comes to participating in sports in Canada, prompting calls to close the gap and keep girls active.

According to the Rally Report 2024: A Call to Reimagine Sport So All Girls Can Play, released on Monday, 63 per cent of girls surveyed from ages six to 18 report taking part in team or individual sports weekly. That's compared to 68 per cent of boys. Team sports include basketball and volleyball, while individual sports include tennis and swimming.

The research was conducted by Canadian Women & Sport, a national non-profit that acts as a voice for girls and women in sports in Canada, and IMI Consulting, a consulting firm, who surveyed 2,068 girls as part of a larger representative study of Canadians in July 2024.

Allison Sandmeyer-Graves, CEO of Canadian Women & Sport, said there was a resounding sentiment in the report that girls believe that sports are for boys.

"Girls are still saying that sport just doesn't feel like it's been designed with their needs and interests in mind, and that they're confronting barriers that are keeping them from playing sports at all or in the ways that they would like," Sandmeyer-Graves said.

"Clearly, girls are still getting a message in our society and in these sport environments that they just aren't valued in the same way that boys are."

The report, funded by Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, which helps kids overcome financial and accessibility barriers to sport and recreation, found a number of barriers to girls' participation in sports. Those barriers include time commitment, fatigue or injury, cost, and a lack of confidence. More needs to be done to ensure girls don't miss out on the benefits of being active, it said.

Accor