This March, a room full of brand new coaches gathered one evening for a two-hour training focused on one question that shapes a girl’s whole experience of sport: does she feel like she belongs? By the end of the session, 36 coaches at PowerPlay New York were better prepared to help every girl answer that question with a confident yes. These coaches are now equipped to bring the power of belonging to over 500 girls across New York City this year!
What sports give girls
Playing sports gives girls something that lasts well beyond any single season. It builds connection, confidence, and resilience, and it is one of the strongest protective factors we have for girls’ wellbeing during the years when it matters most. The benefits reach furthest for the girls who have the biggest barriers to play, including girls of color and girls in under-resourced communities. When a girl finds her place on a team, she finds the foundation for leadership that carries into the rest of her life.
This is why making sure that girls have the access and support that they need to stay in sports through adolescence is about so much more than athletic skill development, it is about what matters most: mental health, confidence, and leadership. By age 14, girls leave sports at twice the rate of boys, and our goal is to close that gap by making sure every girl experiences sports as if it were designed for her.¹
Coaches make it real
Coaches are the people who strongly influence a girl’s ability to have a positive experience playing sports. They set the tone of a practice, notice when a girl is struggling, and shape the team culture. In its national study Coaching through a Gender Lens, the Women’s Sports Foundation found that coaches play a central role in getting and keeping girls in sports, and that positive coaching experience is a strong predictor of whether a girl keeps playing.²
Coaches care deeply about getting this right, and they want tools that help. Few have had access to that kind of preparation: fewer than 30% of youth sports coaches receive training on youth mental health or positive youth development.³ A focused investment in a single coach can change the experience of an entire team for several years.
The training at PowerPlay New York
With this reality in mind we delivered the Keep Her in the Game coach training, a curriculum Girls Leadership designed for the flagship social impact program of Gotham FC, New York area’s professional women’s soccer club. The program was built to help girls stay in sports by equipping the trusted adults in their lives, their coaches and parents, with research-backed training.
PowerPlay’s New York coaches were eager to strengthen how they show up for their athletes both on and off the field. With support from Pinterest Girls Leadership was able to provide training, resources, and a new community of coaches who are committed to making sure that all girls get the community and opportunity they deserve.
Led by Dr. Jia Nettles and grounded in social-emotional learning, the two hour training centered on the moments that shape a girl’s experience on her team: starting conversations that build trust, supporting a girl who is having a hard time, and building the teamwork and sense of belonging that keep girls coming back season after season.
Coaches left with practical strategies and resources they can keep using with their teams and in their PE classes long after the session ended. They were especially drawn to the interactive activities and to tools like the “A to Z safe zone” for helping every girl feel welcome. One coach highlighted howDr. Nettles connected relationships on a team to relationships in everyday life, and another said the activities were “most useful to bring back and share with the girls.”
The reach
The coaches who participated brought what they learned to girls across New York City, and the impact reaches far beyond the room where it began.
In a follow-up survey, every coach who responded reported feeling confident or very confident in supporting girls’ emotional and social needs in sport. When asked how likely they would be to recommend the training to a fellow coach, they rated it an average of 9.2 out of 10.
Looking Ahead
This is the impact that’s made possible when resources are able to meet the demand for this work.The coaches trained this spring will carry what they learned into seasons to come, reaching girls whose experience on their teams will be different because of the work that happened in that room.
Work like this is possible because of partners like Pinterest, Gotham FC, and Power Play, a community that believes girls deserve to thrive in sports. We are grateful to keep building it together.
¹ Women’s Sports Foundation. Teen Sport in America: Why Participation Matters. New York, NY: Women’s Sports Foundation; 2018. https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/articles_and_report/teen-sport-in-america/
² Women’s Sports Foundation. Coaching through a Gender Lens: Maximizing Girls’ Play and Potential. New York, NY: Women’s Sports Foundation; 2019. https://www.womenssportsfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Gender-Lens-Executive-Summary-Updated-format-6-3-20-FINAL.pdf
³ Aspen Institute. State of Play 2022: National Coach Survey Findings. Washington, DC: Aspen Institute; 2022.
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