Girls’ participation in sport drops off dramatically as soon as they leave high school. But the organisers of a sports club in Huddersfield are hoping to change all that. The club is about to celebrate its 100th open-access session and is one of 1,400 projects in the UK to be granted the use of an ‘Inspired by London 2012’ logo, HILARIE STELFOX went along to The Sportz Factor.
IT IS EARLY on Saturday evening and The Zone in Huddersfield is starting to fill up with teenage girls.
Some have chosen to play a game of indoor hockey while others are in the gym. Two girls are at the crafts table and one is having her nails done by a beauty therapist.
This is The Sportz Factor, a girls-only youth club with a difference.
Run by the Community Recreation Outreach Team – part of the Kirklees Council’s Integrated Youth Support Services – the aim of the club is to offer sport and activities to girls aged between 13 and 19. Recognised for its innovative approach, the project has been awarded the 2012 Olympic Games Inspire mark.
Launched just over two years ago by community recreation officer Glenn Swindell, The Sportz Factor was a response to statistics gathered by the NHS and Kirklees Council that showed more than half of girls aged between 11 and 16 wanted to be more active but didn’t like what was currently on offer outside school.
A survey of more than 1,000 girls in Kirklees schools found one third were active for less than an hour each day and only 26% belonged to sports clubs.
Glenn says this is because many girls don’t want to participate in activities alongside boys.
The survey also found that more than half of girls liked sport to be fun and didn’t want to take it too seriously.
Glenn said: “Back in autumn 2009 there was a push from the Government to engage more teenagers in activities at weekends and we wanted something for girls.
“We know that girls’ participation levels in sport drops off almost completely when they leave school.
“The overall impression I get is that young women prefer to take part in sport without boys being there. I guess this is to do with the complexities of adolescence and not wanting to appear unattractive, not skilful etc in front of the lads.”
For boys in the area there was already an evening soccer club at Soccer City on Fridays.
Glenn added: “It’s very popular. You can get up to 100 lads attending. But we knew we couldn’t just put on one activity like that for the girls.”
And so he trialled an idea with a group of girls at Salendine Nook High School.
“I was already working with some Duke of Edinburgh students at the school and asked them to come with me to The Zone, where we did an activities session,” explained Glenn.
The Sportz Factor – a name designed to appeal to young fans of The X Factor – came into being in January 2010.
Membership is free to all girls between 13 and 19 (although if a 12-year-old comes along with an older friend she won’t be turned away) and each session costs a nominal £1.
Glenn said: “We have open access so girls with learning or physical difficulties would be welcomed, as would be those from any community.”
Activities range from team games such as dodgeball and hockey, to dance mat sessions, gym use and even beauty therapy. Each week a therapist attends to give the girls manicures. There is also a craft opportunity for those who want a break from sport or to ease themselves into the group activities.
Over the past two years around 400 girls have attended The Sportz Factor but the average attendance each Saturday is a fairly modest 25. Glenn would like to see more girls taking advantage of the sports and social opportunities on offer.
He said: “We don’t pressure the girls to take part in anything. They can choose what they do. We want them to feel comfortable.”
Most girls go along with a friend and see the evening as a chance to socialise as well as improve their fitness.
Natalie Williams, 16, from Salendine Nook, was one of Glenn’s original team of Duke of Edinburgh girls who advised on what sort of activities would be suitable.
Now at New College, she says she enjoys playing hockey but also takes advantages of the services of the beauty therapist.
“Originally I came along with a friend but now I have made new ones,” she says.
Bethany Brook, also 16, from Moldgreen, is a newcomer to the sessions.
A student at Kirklees College, she had taken the brave step of turning out on her own.
She said: “I read about it in a leaflet and decided to come along because I wanted to get out for a bit of a social life.”
Glenn believes that even if girls only come along to one or two sessions it might make them more eager to join sports clubs at school or in the areas where they live.
The 38-year-old father-of-three has two daughters and says it is becoming increasingly important to involve girls in sport.
His own children, eight-year-old Faith, six-year-old Rose and two-year-old Bryn are encouraged to be active. The girls are already interested in cross country running, roller-booting, swimming, netball and climbing.
Glenn added: “It is vitally important that we encourage young people to take part in sporting activities, either competitive or recreational.
“It is well documented that as a nation we are becoming more obese and The Sportz Factor for Girls is doing something about this by giving teenage girls the chance to do some fun, healthy activities each week on a Saturday night.”
For details of how to become involved in The Sportz Factor, Glenn can be contacted on 01484 223349.
Alternatively, girls can simply turn up at The Zone at 5.30pm on Saturday evenings. The sessions run for two hours and will end for the summer on June 9.
Two taster sessions are being held in April. They are on Tuesday April 3, from 2-5pm, at North Huddersfield Trust School, Woodhouse Hall Road, Fartown and on Wednesday April 11 at Paddock Youth Centre, Beech Street, Paddock, from 2-5pm.
