Why Sports is Important for Women

I would like to share an article – ‘Why sports participation is important for women and girls’ written by Tiffany Brown.

· As little as four hours of exercise a week may reduce a young woman’s risk of breast cancer by up to 60%; breast cancer is a disease that afflicts one out of every 8 American women.

· One out of every two women over the age of 60 suffers from osteoporosis (brittle bones). Females today should not desire to relive the experiences of previous generations of women who were not permitted to play sports or encouraged to participate in weight-bearing exercises that are necessary in establishing bone mass.

· Females who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self esteem and lower levels of depression.

· Young women who play sports are less likely to be involved in an unwanted pregnancy; more likely to get better grades in school and more likely to graduate than girls who do not play sports.

· From childhood to adulthood, females who play sports have a more positive body image and experience higher states of psychological well being than girls and women who do not play sports.

· Sport is where the males traditionally learned about teamwork, goal setting, the pursuit of excellence in performance and other achievement -oriented behaviors critical for success in the work place. In an economic environment where the quality of our children’s lives will be dependent on two-income families, the women of today cannot be less prepared for the highly competitive workplace than men. It is no accident that 80% of the female executives at Fortune 500 companies identified themselves as former “tomboys”- having played sports.