Canadian Girls and Parents Want a Safer Sport System, According to National Report Findings

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Canadian Women & Sport, in partnership with Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities, today released The Rally Report 2022: A Call for a Better, Safer Sport for Girls. Based on national survey findings from 4,500 Canadian girls and women and more than 350 sport leaders, the Rally Report outlines that Canadian girls want a better sport system than pre-pandemic.

Findings from The Rally Report 2022 show that Canadian girls and their parents want sport back; however, they want to participate in a sport system that is better than it was before the pandemic. According to survey findings from respondents:

• Half of all adolescent girls aged 13-18 in Canada are not currently participating in sport
• Since the pandemic, 14 per cent of girls report declining sport participation
• Sport participation rates remained steady throughout COVID-19

The findings reveal significant barriers preventing girls from accessing safe, quality sport, including:

• 1-in-3 Canadian girls report that coaches and organizations are not addressing important safety issues within girls’ sport
• Almost half (46 per cent) of parents report low-quality programming as a barrier to their 6- to 12-year-old girls’ ongoing participation in sport
• Less than half of coaches receive training on topics related to keeping girls in sport, including gender equity, body image, and mental health

The findings also indicate that after losing access to sport during the height of the public health restrictions, girls and their parents are more aware of the benefits of sport. This is supported by the fact that more than 90 per cent of Canadian girls surveyed believe that sport benefits their physical and mental health.

“As much as we love sport, the uncomfortable reality is that the current system is flawed, especially for girls and women,” said Allison Sandmeyer-Graves, CEO, Canadian Women & Sport. “The message in this report couldn’t be clearer: our current sport system is failing to provide girls and women with access to safe and equitable sport opportunities as participants and as leaders. Our task is to continue working together with partners, leaders, and governments to create better, safer sport.”

To create better, safer sport, Canadian Women & Sport calls on leaders and decision-makers at all levels to champion gender equity, including training coaches on the needs of girls and women and providing long-term investments in advancing women’s sport.

“As the Canadian sport system rebuilds from the pandemic, we’re granted a significant opportunity to reshape sport in a manner that is equitable, safe, and supportive of girls and women, and that empowers them to achieve their ambitions,” said Marco Di Buono, President of Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities. “We are proud to partner with Canadian Women & Sport on this critical research and to advance of our shared mission of gender equity in sport.”

The Rally Report 2022 is the third national report on sport participation for Canadian girls released by Canadian Women & Sport since 2020. The survey was conducted by Leger Marketing on behalf of Canadian Women & Sport.

The Rally Report 2022 is available online in full here.

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