In March, UoM Sport are launching a campaign to celebrate ThisGirlCan. We want to challenge stereotypes and support women in sport, while celebrating their successes!

This Girl Can seeks to tell the real stories of women who get active or play sport in the way that’s right for them. Led by Sport England, This Girl Can is the first campaign of its kind to feature women of all shapes, sizes and sporting abilities to promote sport to everyone. Since it’s launch in 2015, they have persuaded nearly three million women to get more active. Research shows that many women are put off taking part in physical activity due to a fear of judgement – this might be about the way the look when they exercise, that they’re not good enough to join in, or they should be spending more time on other priorities. 

While sexism has always been present in sport, there is also a history of people standing up for women in sport and fighting for change. Here are eight times in recent memory when women fought for equality in sports. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/08/sports/women-sports-equality.html

Our aim at UoM Sport is to inspire and empower women. We want to open up a conversation to celebrate women in sport, hear about real experiences and educate on how to support women in sport. Despite being in lockdown women are still facing sexism within sport.

We want to bring together our community and look at how we can all work together to support women in sport. Whether you identify as a woman or a man, we can all play a part in making a change. Throughout the month our campaign will be focussing on:

• How we can all support women in sport and real examples of when people have made a difference to help and show support for women in sport.
• How women have felt barriers in their sporting careers, and their experiences in this industry.
• Celebrating successes and achievements.
• Why we are campaigning for This Girl Can, and why it is relevant at this time.

For more information about This Girl Can, visit their website.

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