Sarah’s 11 year old daughter, Viv, has always loved a physical challenge. As a young child, she was always turning the play structure at the park into her own obstacle course, then came the cartwheel, and it became clear early on that they had a gymnast in the family. Today in partnership with Athleta Girl we’re chatting with Sarah about raising a female athlete in such a male-dominated sports culture.
Athleta Girl is not only a community for female empowerment, but focuses on providing premium and quality apparel that fits all women and girls’ bodies and needs. In our photos today, Viv is wearing the Shadow Stripe Power of Chi Tank in Purple (love all the bright color options!) and the classic Chit Chat Capri in Black. High quality, comfortable and super versatile for her fast paced training schedule. Sarah’s in the All in 7/8 tights (with handy zip pockets!), Topanga Racerback tank in the perfect shade of pale pink, and the Hyper focused bra with a hidden key pocket. I’m super impressed with the quality, and how functional all the pieces are. It makes me want to re-vamp my whole athletic gear wardrobe.
There’s been a lot of interesting studies recently about young female athletes and how important it is for them to feel confident in their bodies and their game to continue having the drive compete. According to the National Alliance for Sports, 20 million kids ages 7-12 play sports each year, but by the time they’re 13 about 70 percent of these kids quit and never play them again. That number is even higher for girls. According to the Women’s Sport Association, by the age of puberty, girls are dropping out of sports at a rate 2x as high as boys are. They have fewer opportunities and their bodies are changing as they enter puberty. They don’t feel like they are able to compete with their male counterparts. They’re gaining breasts while boys are gaining muscle. “Seven out of the 10 girls who quit sports during puberty said they didn’t feel like they belonged in sports, according to the survey of more than 1,000 girls ages 16 to 24. Nearly the same number (67%) said they felt that society doesn’t encourage girls to play sports.” (CNN).
Sarah danced in her youth and remembers that the ups and downs of it. “I worry that Viv is pushing herself too hard or her schedule gets hectic. There were definitely failures and disappointments for me along the way, but pushing through and overcoming my fears and self doubt was a powerful experience for me. To this day dancing makes me so happy, and has a way of bringing me back to myself. Exercise can be so grounding and help us shift our moods. It can be excellent tool for young girls like Viv going through all the inevitable ups and downs of middle school, puberty, and dealing with societal expectations.”
Positive body talk (and leading by example). I think this is the most important thing we can do. Research now shows that kids are starting to be concerned with their body image by the age of 5. Already, these little girls are starting to internalize societies standards of beauty and thinness and feel like sports don’t fit into that ideal. It’s an uphill battle, but we focus on talking about our bodies in a positive way. Focusing on what your body can do, not what it looks like. Instead of the physical appearance, we can focus on how our body functions and performs. How hard physical work and training can help it grow strong and healthy.
Pointing out the unhealthy societal messages towards girls. We see the negative female messages all around us and especially in entertainment, music, and magazines, even in how girls are treated in school. It’s impossible to shield them but we can be proactive about pointing out the harmful message and challenging it so our girls can learn to do the same for themselves.
The future is female, after all. We just need to support our girls to get there. Do you have any advice to add for support young female athletes?
Thanks to Athleta Girl for sponsoring this post and supporting our strong girls
I used to really enjoy your blog, but these days I feel it’s become too heavy handed with the sponsored posts for me. While I can appreciate that you need your blog to produce revenue, I urge you to take a step back and look at how many posts are sponsored vs. how many are not sponsored. Or maybe poll your readers about how they are feeling about the number of sponsored posts you have, maybe I am in the minority. I hope that you re-evaluate and decide to try and find a balance.
HI! I appreciate your feedback, and totally agree. This summer it’s been a bit off balance with travel and a transition we’re going through with our team but I’m promise we’ll get that balance back as things start settling back into the routine here! xoxo
Athleta is one of my favorite lines, and I think their new girls line is so cute! I keep seeing so many pieces that I wish came in my size!
Paige
http://thehappyflammily.com
They do have a pretty extensive women’s line that Sarah is wearing in the shoot- check it out!
Adorable interview, I love the dynamic between Sarah and Viv! 🙂
Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com
They are so cute together!