There is danger of women missing out on the London 2012 legacy, the charity Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation (WSFF) has warned.

Image credit: WSFF’s #gogirl campaign

Yesterday WSFF met with MP’s, peers, sportswomen and broadcasters at the House of Lords at a meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Women’s Sport and Fitness to discuss the issue.

Although the female members of TeamGB celebrated their best-ever Games this year, the charity believes women are not being given the chances they need to capitalise on the legacy London 2012 left behind.

They also called coverage of women’s sport shocking, as it makes up just 5 per cent of media coverage.

Other research from the charity revealed that women’s sport receives a mere 0.5 per cent of all commercial sponsorship, and that just one in five board members of national governing bodies are female.

“It has been the most amazing summer for women’s sport, and we must not now let the moment pass,” said Sue Tibballs, CEO of WSFF.

“More coverage is not going to just happen on its own – we need action from the government, media and commercial partners to make this happen.”

As well as greater media coverage of women in sport, a strategy proposed by WSFF calls for a rethink of school sport to encourage further female participation, more female leadership at the highest levels of sport and more opportunities for participation.

“Only 12 per cent of girls at the age of 14 are taking part in the recommended amount of activity – and that has very serious ramifications beyond sport,” continued Tibballs.

“We need to make sure that young girls and women are given more opportunities to see their female sports heroes in action to inspire them to get active.”

WSFF is a charity which campaigns to make physical activity an everyday part of life for females. Their vision is a society which encourages, enables and celebrates active women and girls.

Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine