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Girls Get Active Hackathon increases awareness about women in sport

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Girls Get Active Hackathon has been set up to try to encourage teenage girls to pursue more sport

 

Girls Get Active Hackathon increases awareness about women in sport

By I Love Limerick Correspondent Tara Byrne

New Limerick initiative ‘Girls Get Active Hackathon’ has been set up to try to encourage teenage girls to pursue more sport. Participating in sport and physical activity provides multiple benefits for physical and mental health, and for the potential quality of life. However, women and girls have long been an underrepresented group in sport and teenage girls, in particular, take part in sport and physical activity far less than the national average in Ireland.


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Evidence suggests participation plummets during adolescence with just 7% of girls age 14-15 years meeting recommended physical activity levels. Girls who are active in their teenage years and develop a love of sport are much more likely to establish a life-long relationship with sport and exercise in adulthood.

Limerick Sports Partnership combining their exploration of girls’ wider lives and what is important to them, with their understanding of their experiences and barriers in sport, they have developed 8 important principles to engage and connect with teenage girls, to support them to embrace sport and physical activity in their lives. These are particularly valuable for girls who are less engaged currently, however, can also be relevant for active girls to enhance their experience and prevent them from dropping out.

Join the Girls Get Active Hackathon and help teenage girls realise that sport and physical activity can be a part of their lives and that sport is for everyone, including them.

Many teenage girls across Ireland are missing out on the benefits of sport and physical activity because they don’t think they are “sporty enough”, they don’t know where or how to get involved, and they don’t think there are opportunities for them to be involved in a sport other than traditional team sports.

Following extensive research, Sport Ireland in conjunction with Women in Sport released the Adolescent Girls Get Active Report. This report studied the attitudes, needs and desires of teenage girls toward sport and physical activity. It identified the challenges and barriers to participation and developed practical advice on marketing and messaging to address the challenge.

Now is the time to put this report into action. Sport Ireland wants to create a number of pilot programmes aimed specifically at teenage girls.

By combining the insights of the above research, the knowledge and expertise in Sport Ireland along with your voice through a virtual Hackathon, Limerick Sports Partnership can make a real impact and create a programme that not only interests teenage girls but inspires them to take part and to make sport and physical activity a part of their lives.

A Hackathon is a short-concentrated event that brings people together to brainstorm and share a range of creative and innovative ideas around a challenge.  It’s a great way for people to come together, share ideas and create positive change in society.

Individuals and groups of all ages and all backgrounds can take part including; girls in secondary school, TY students, teachers, parents, third level students, researchers, sport development officers, NGB and LSP staff.

By taking part in the Sport Ireland Girls Get Active Hackathon you will be part of the solution to tackle female adolescent inactivity and sport dropout. Your voice will contribute directly to the creation and development of a new programme aimed directly at encouraging young girls to be more active and to reconnect them with sport and physical activity.

Join the Girls Get Active Hackathon where you will be part of a team of like-minded individuals tackling a nationwide problem in an innovative way, developing collaboration and problem-solving skills that will benefit you in your own life and career.

For more stories about Limerick Sports Partnership go HERE 

For more information about Girls Get Active Hackathon and get involved go HERE 

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.