The director of Always #LikeAGirl’s Keep Playing film discusses girls and sport.

How many times have we heard comments like “girls shouldn’t play that sport” or seen girls’ teams playing in half-filled arenas? What impact does this have on girls and their desire to play sports?
Always partnered with Academy Award-nominated documentary film-maker Nanette Burstein to find out.

Nanette uncovered surprising findings as she talked with the girls to explore the benefits of sports. Today, seven in 10 girls feel they don’t belong in sports, so it’s no surprise that half quit sports around puberty, at a moment where their confidence plummets and they are trying to conform to societal expectations. On top of feeling they need to stop something they often love, girls are then robbed of the benefits of playing sports, which is one of the strongest confidence-building activities at a time when they need it the most!

“As someone who grew up playing sports, and also as the mother of a seven-year-old daughter, I know how important sports participation can be in helping girls build the confidence and skills that will serve them throughout life,” says Nanette, who directed Always #LikeAGirl – Keep Playing.

Sports are critical in building confidence. In fact, a recent study found that women aged 18 to 24 are twice as likely to be confident if they play sports regularly than those who do not play at all. Yet society is barely tackling the silent issue of girls dropping out of sports. Always wants to change that!

Always is inviting everybody to join in to rewrite the rules and keep girls in sports. For more than three decades, we’ve empowered girls worldwide by educating millions about puberty and their cycle, so they can feel confident.

So join us in our epic battle to stop the drop in confidence girls experience at puberty by encouraging all girls to Keep Playing #LikeAGirl.