“Many factors have contributed to the success of the Girls in Sport project but the planning, staff commitment and in particular the innovative marketing approach have obviously appealed to the participants allowing them to differentiate this from other opportunities. The approach taken to motivate the girls to continue participation week in and week out by offering appealing incentives has been key to the maintenance of consistent and increasing participation numbers and has been a vital factor in sustaining the success of the project”.
Brian Mitchell 13 Dec 06
In order to reach the national physical activity recommendation of 1hr of moderate activity every day, we created the ‘Girls in Sport’ club at the Meldrum Academy.
Project details Project duration: 01 December 2006 - ongoing
Organisation:
Aberdeenshire Council
Project name:
Girls in Sport
Audience Schools
Innovation
Our project was well delivered due to our enthusiastic staff, funding and the variety of our partners. We also launched the programme with considered branding and promotional tools which were targeted to the girls. The project was delivered using multi-activities so the girls were engaged and also were not put off by competitive sports or limited types of activities. To encourage girls to come back to the club we also introduced incentives which target girls specifically including hair, beauty, nutrition vouchers and products.
Recruitment and promotion
We designed a “Girls in Sport” logo to give the club its own identity. We also produced a leaflet which was distribution to all P7-S6 girls. In addition, the girls were sent an invitation in the mail to raise the profile of the club and inform the girls and the parents.
To promote the club further, we design a Power-Point presentation to demonstrate girls taking part in physical activity. The presentation was shown on a flat screen TV in the weeks leading up to the launch to raise awareness of the club. We also updated the school web page and featured the activities on the Pupil bulletin.
Location
How was your project delivered? Multi-sportPartnership
We received support from Youth Sports Trust and SportScotland which was essential for the project.
To deliver the Girls Get Active project we also worked with the Local Sports Centre, a graphic designer, local businesses, Community Sports Clubs and Sports Development Officers.
Results
Lessons:
One lesson we learnt from the Girls in Sport Club is that training and time out to plan is essential. Although it takes a lot of time and hard work to set up club, it really works. We now have started to do joint planning between the primary and secondary school as a result of the success of the girl’s project. One other thing I would like to improve in the future is further cooperation from parents, especially in terms of car sharing.
Evaluation:
• Increased levels of girls taking part in sport and physical activity
• Increased girls' participation and attendance at extra-curricular clubs
• Weekly 30-50 girls attending
Themes
Facilities
Transport was an issue for some girls from the furthest away primary schools, but they arranged for their parents to meet and set up a car pool to enable the girls to take part.
Participation
We have grown girls' participation in physical activity by offering a variety of multi-sport activities and have launched a rewards or incentive scheme. The more sessions the girls attend, the quicker they can receive small incentives that have been selected specifically for girls such as hair, beauty and nutrition products. Vouchers are also provided to girls with high attendance figures.
