Angela Ruggiero talks Stress Management

You've heard many of the reasons girls should be active. We know that if a girl does not participate in sports by the age of 10, there is only a 10% likelihood she will be participating at age 25. (Bunker, 1988). Research suggests that physical activity is an effective tool for reducing the symptoms of stress and depression among girls. Sports help girls develop leadership and teamwork skills. Girls who participate in sports have higher self-esteem and pride in themselves.

So how do you get the girls in your life to get on the path to being physically active and reaping all of these rewards?

This document was compiled by the Women’s Sports Foundation with editorial assistance from Doreen Greenberg, Ph.D., and Beatrice Springborn.

* The descriptions for these books are quoted with permission from Great Books for Girls: More than 600 Books to Inspire Today’s Girls and Tomorrow’s Women, Kathleen Odean, Ballantine Books, New York, 1997.

Girls enter organized sports two years later than boys. As a result, they are at a skill and experience disadvantage and less likely to have early success.  The Womens Sports Foundation talks about setting up Mother/Daughter clinics to get an early start..

Katherine Hepburn was a two-sport star before Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders were even born. OK, so it was on the silver screen, but her 1952 turn as a professional tennis and golf star helped "Pat and Mike" make our list of great women’s sports films. During these long winter months, why not curl up on the couch, make popcorn the old –fashioned way, and take in a sports flick.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child states that every child has the right to recreation opportunities, check out here why and how we should encourage our daughters to participate in sports

Published in 1988, the Wilson report was the first large study to examine attitudes to Girls in sports.  A seminal report at the time, it is still relevant today in showing the benefits of sports to the developing young women.