In a 6-month project 8 coaches and 10 Girl Leaders have been creating safe spaces for 315 teen-girls, by organising weekly sports sessions and 1 event for them.
We clearly experienced the need for these type of activities for girls, since girls lack spaces where they feel safe and can play sports together. Also research shows that teen girls (12+) have far less opportunities to participate and engage in community sports activities; 35% of all girls in the Netherlands never or hardly ever play sports, and around 40% for teen-girls in urban settings or girls from minority groups.
ISA, together with four community organisation-partners, successfully created safe spaces for teen-girls in four different cities across the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Den Bosch, Nijmegen and Tilburg) to team-up and to have fun. Both vital for physical and mental health of participants, that they would miss out if no opportunities are created for them.
Moreover, Girl Leaders and Coaches reported to have gained skills as a sports leader or mentor, and gained self-esteem to lead a group, to organise sessions and an event on their own, and mainly to just start and do it! All organisations reported to have gained from the project in terms of trained female coaches and youth leaders, the exchange between different towns, or professionalisation of their organisation. And all like to participate in a follow-up project, that will benefit from the first learnings, and – if for a longer period of time – could contribute to greater and more sustainable impact for participating teen-girls.
We proudly present the impact results of the first big steps of She Got Game #NL in more detail below:
