Female Role Models
If a girl has never seen women participating in sport, it will be virtually impossible for her to imagine playing herself. When a girl sees a woman who grew up in her region, and who has faced the same challenges she faces, speaking out for herself and walking and playing proudly, that girl’s sense of what she can do expands exponentially. When a girl sees a woman who is married or has children still playing sports, she realises that becoming a wife or mother doesn’t mean giving up her passions.
Strong woman coaches who show just as much understanding and command of a sport as male coaches challenge a common stereotype, often held by girls themselves, that male coaches have more expertise than women.
Girls need role models not only to show them their limitless potential in sport and life, but also to show them how one can achieve success in different ways. Too often, girls only see certain types of role models, limiting their visions for their own potential.
Our recommendations
In the infographic below you can see some recommendations for dealing with this barrier. You can adopt these to suit your context. You can also download the infographic to use offline.
Case Study
You can see a case study of how other organisations have addressed this barrier by clicking the accordion menu below.
Girls and Football South Africa, an NGO based in Cape Town that works with adolescent girls using football and media, created a relationship with Banyana Banyana, the South African national female football team. Players from the team come to camps organised by the organisation and serve as role models, inviting the girls in the programme to national team games.