Anyone nudging their car over the speed bumps on Sherborne’s Bradford Road might have the opportunity to observe the regularity with which the sliding doors of Oxley Sports Centre open and close to a stream of visitors of all ages. From pupils letting off steam in the fitness suite to members of staff scuttling over the road for a lunchtime boxercise or spin class; from senior Sherborne residents trying low-impact aqua aerobics to fledgling swimmers and budding climbers, there is something at Oxley for everyone.
As the ‘home of Sherborne Girls sport’, it is not surprising that Oxley has an active female membership. Even taking that into account, however, the strong numbers and broad age range of its female members bely a more depressing national picture. Since Oxley first opened in 2007, there has been a growing body of research showing that many more men than women take part in sport and physical activity in almost every age group. Nearly 40% of women aged over 16 are not active enough to derive the full benefits of sport and physical activity. Even more shocking, a staggering 64% of girls will have quit sport by the time they finish puberty. What these disappointing statistics do not show, however, is the ambition among many women to do more physical activity. In a survey by Sport England and Savanta ComRes last year, 57% of women stated that they wanted to engage in more physical activity, compared to 44% of men, a finding which translates into a huge opportunity for sports centres like Oxley to respond to this demand by catering better for this audience.
As an all-girls full boarding school with a state-of-the- art sports centre and 25m six-lane pool located in the heart of a thriving town, we are well equipped to make the most of this opportunity and transform women and girls’ experience of sport – not only in our school but also in our community and beyond. We are proud of the pioneering contribution we have already made to the national effort to identify and tackle the barriers to sustained female engagement in sport and physical activity. Now, we want to leverage this success to go even further.
In September 2021, we teamed up with The Well HQ, experts in the world of female sport, to launch the ‘Sport in Her Shoes’ programme. Currently being rolled out across the country, the programme aims to educate all those involved in youth sport in the specific needs of girls and the reasons why so many stop participating in sport and physical activity when they hit puberty. It might mean explaining the impact of the menstrual cycle on athletes, changing the fabric and colour of sportswear, including ‘caught-short’ sanitary supplies in team first aid kits for away fixtures or changing training approaches to reflect the finding that girls need to feel they ‘belong to a team to perform’, unlike most boys who ‘need to perform before they start to feel they belong’.
This programme is working. At Sherborne Girls, over 90% of our current Upper Sixth are actively engaged in organised physical activity on a regular basis and 66% of girls in their final year at Sherborne Girls have represented the School in one of our competitive sports teams – in stark contrast to the national trend. Although the focus of ‘Sport in Her Shoes’ is teenage girls, we know that the reasons why so many disengage with sport and exercise at puberty persist into adulthood and older age. We have also learned that simple changes made after applying a female lens to every decision in sport generate huge rewards. Together with Oxley sports centre, we have an exciting opportunity to build on these insights to develop a sport and fitness space in Sherborne that is uniquely sensitive to the needs of women of all ages. The changes we have made resulting from the application of a ‘female lens’ at Oxley are already reflected in our membership and staff numbers – 70% and 60% respectively are female. As well as focusing on helping girls to develop a lifetime habit of regular physical activity and to acquire confidence in the use of fitness equipment, we also plan to tailor more of what we do to encourage other age groups. For example, in September we plan to begin pre- and post-natal fitness classes and female-led strength and conditioning classes for women over fifty, an age group which is all too often neglected in fitness provision.
We know that many women enjoy the social aspect of exercise too and so our friendly staff go out of their way to be welcoming, sociable and interested in our members. Consequently, Oxley members benefit from a feeling that they belong every time they walk through our doors. We have introduced physical activities and classes with a uniquely social emphasis such as ‘Walking Netball’ and ‘Loose Women’ (a predominantly swimming, aquafit, chatting and cake-eating group). We believe that the social appeal of creative new initiatives like these encourage more women to participate in some form of activity and, importantly, keep going with it. We are looking forward to finding many more ways, either through our facilities or through new classes and activities, to support women and girls with sport and fitness provision that caters for them by design.
Jayne Dart, Director of Sport, Adventure & Leadership at Sherborne Girls and Samantha Welch, Oxley Sports Centre Manager
