GIRLS from The Chase School in Malvern got involved in sporting activities as part of the return of the ‘Worcs Girls Can’ scheme.
Led by Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire, ‘Worcs Girls Can’ worked with Geraldine Road-based school and incorporated a range of opportunities for female students to get active including cardio tennis, zumba, cric fit, clubbercise and yoga.
Five other high schools across the counties of Worcestershire and Herefordshire took part in the annual campaign.
Seventy sports clubs, community organisations and leisure providers also hosted six marketplace events, enabling female students to discover an array of exciting activities taking place within the community.
Paralympic silver medallist Rebecca Redfern was among those supporting the ‘Worcs Girl Can’ campaign.
“I feel that girls need a lot of positive encouragement to get in to sport.,” she said.
“There are many negative attitudes, especially in Physical Education at school, and I know first-hand that sport has a lot of mental health benefits as well as physical.
“You have nothing to lose but you have so much to gain.
“Sport opens so many new doors for you and if you have nothing to lose, then why not just give it a go?”
“When you think about sport, don’t just think of it in terms of reaching the highest level.
“We all have our own boundaries to push and reaching those individual boundaries is a challenge in itself.”
According to a recent Department of Education study, one in three teen girls suffer from anxiety or depression so the ‘Worcs Girls Can’ campaign was aimed towards changing female’s perception of sport and physical activity, in-turn, tackling some of the mental health problems that UK teenagers are experiencing.
Inspired by Sport England’s ground-breaking ‘This Girl Can’ campaign, which was successful in encouraging 2.8 million women to participate in physical activity, ‘Worcs Girls Can’ aimed to celebrate active females across Worcestershire, helping to overcome the fear of judgement that stops so many women and girls from participating in physical activity.
Stephen Brewster, chief executive at Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire added: “Physical activity participation among women and girls is a priority for the Sports Partnership Herefordshire and Worcestershire.
“The campaign has been a great opportunity to utilise our partnerships in one of our areas of focus.
“We were delighted to relaunch and lead on a countywide bid to get females across Worcestershire active.
“Thus far, we have been successful in engaging over 1300 females through the campaign within our lead schools.
“We hope that we have inspired further young women to overcome the obstacles that stand in their way to get physically active.”
