Why do we do so much so that a group of girls can play softball?
Well……
• Girls who play sports do not follow popular
culture’s idea of the ideal female form and have a positive image of
their own bodies.
• Girls who play sports are concerned with what their bodies can do, not what they look like.
• High school girls are twice as likely as boys to have had a major depressive episode. Girls who play
sports have higher self-esteem and much lower levels of depression.
• Girls who play sports during the teen years have 80% fewer unwanted pregnancies.
• Girls who play sports are 35% more likely to have no sexual activity at all during their high
school years. 25% of all sexually active teenage girls are infected with an STD.
• 38% of all 12-grade girls have used an illicit drug in the past year.
Girls who play sports are 92% less likely to use marijuana, cocaine or most other illicit drugs.
• Girls who play sports have much lower incidences of eating disorders.
• 30% of all high school girls smoke. Girls who play sports are significantly less likely to smoke.
• Girls who play sports in high school consistently have better grades than girls who don’t play sports.
• Girls who play sports have higher educational aspirations, better school attendance, enroll in greater numbers in math
and science courses, spend more time on homework, and take more honors courses.
• Girls who play sports in high school are 3 times more likely to graduate from high school.
• Girls who play sports in college are 20% more likely to graduate.
• 80% of all female executives in Fortune 500 companies played in organized sports in their youth.
• A girl who does not play organized sports by the age of 10 has only a 1 in 10 likelihood of being physically active at 25.
• Girls who play sports tend to be active as adults and reduce the likelihood of breast cancer by 60%.
Breast cancer afflicts 1 out of every 8 adult women.
• Girls who play sports and remain active as adults have lower incidences of strokes, heart attacks, and other health problems.
• Osteoporosis is caused by insufficient bone density in older women. The critical years for
developing bone density are 12 to 16. Girls who exercise regularly during those years
have 22% greater bone density, at the age of 60.
• Due to a lack of enough organizations like the Delaware Magic, and the opportunities and
commitment that we provide, girls still drop out of sports at a rate 6 times greater than boys.
But mostly, it’s just because we love our daughters.
Thank you!
All statistics courtesy of the Women’s Sports Foundation
