Dame Kelly is hoping to see her love of sport replicated by teenage girls up and down the country as she kicks off the second year of Norwich Union GirlsActive, in Longfield Kent on Monday 24 September.
Over the coming six weeks 500 teenage girls from 125 school sport partnerships will get the chance to tell Dame Kelly what changes they would make to their PE lessons in a series of innovative activity days.
GirlsActive, working with girls between the ages of 13 and 16 and their teachers, identifies the issues surrounding girls in sport, and aims to empower girls to have a role in suggesting and making changes in their school that will encourage their peers to get more active.
Around 100 girls from 25 school sport partnerships across the South East will today be challenged to try new activities such as dance, martial arts and climbing at the Treejumpers Woodland Park, activity centre.
The girls, working with their teachers, will also develop a Norwich Union GirlsActive Action Plan, which they will then role out in their own school. The workshops are aiming to help teachers recognise the barriers that are discouraging girls from participating in sport – from the condition of the changing rooms and gym kit, to the variety sport of offer – and work with the girls to make positive changes
Dame Kelly said: “I’m really looking forward to these upcoming Norwich Union GirlsActive roadshows, and working with the girls to understand why they might not be engaging in sport. It is a concern that research continuously shows that girls are more likely to drop out of sport than boys.
Further, I believe that it is vital that school sport partnerships are working with the students to develop strategies for getting more girls to participate in sport, both inside and outside of school hours, and deliver sporting activity that is designed specifically for them to keep them interested.'
GirlsActive 2007 dates and locations
24 September
Treejumpers, Kent
2 October
PGL Court Farm, Herefordshire
10 October
University of Cumbria, Cumbria
5 November
PGL Marhcants Hill, Surrey
7 November
PGL Caythorpe, Lincolnshire
