Rising professionalization and expanding media visibility is rapidly changing the landscape for women’s sport in Canada. The launch and subsequent expansion of the Professional Women’s Hockey League (boasting 3 Canadian teams), marked a transformative turning point.
Soon after, the Northern Super League, Canada’s first professional women’s soccer league, kicked off its inaugural season and, in a few short months, Canada’s first team in the Women’s National Basketball Association, Toronto Tempo, will play its first game.
But beyond the headlines, significant challenges remain, including steep declines in physical activity levels among adolescent girls and the continued underrepresentation of women in coaching and leadership positions in sport.
We caught up with Professor Catherine Sabiston, Canada Research Chair in physical activity and psychosocial well-being, for her take on what needs to happen to solidify the gains that women’s sport has made and ensure future advancements.
Sabiston will be one of the speakers at the upcoming Legacy in the Making panel discussion hosted by the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education on March 25. Featuring leaders across professional sport, research, coaching and athlete advocacy, the event will explore how Canada can move from momentum to sustainable impact in women’s sport.
From your perspective, as a researcher, what’s behind the dropping rates of physical activity levels among adolescent girls?
The rates are not necessarily dropping, but they are certainly dismal and staying consistently low. Girls are at least two and sometimes up to six times less likely to be physically active compared to boys. The reasons for the differences have also remained fairly consistent. Low physical activity among girls is shaped by a mix of social, psychological and structural factors.
What are some of those factors?
Girls often report concerns about body image, fear of judgment and lower confidence in sport settings, and gender norms can make sport environments feel less welcoming. Gender roles and stereotypes can also disrupt participation availability. Opportunity is also a major issue. In childhood there are many recreational opportunities to try sports, and Canadian sport organizations have improved these opportunities substantially. But, as girls get older, the system becomes more competitive and ultimately fails the majority of those who were once participants. The athletes who excel continue to have opportunities, while girls who simply want to play for fun often find that those recreational leagues disappear.
What’s being done – or what should be done to reverse that trend, in your opinion?
There has been growing recognition of this issue, and many organizations are working to create more welcoming and inclusive opportunities for girls in sport. Grassroots initiatives like Lay-Up in Toronto and community groups such as Hijabi Ballers are creating spaces where girls can participate in ways that emphasize fun, belonging and confidence rather than competition alone. These programs are important because they help ensure that girls who simply want to play and be active still have opportunities to do so.
At the same time, the growing visibility of women’s sport and increased support for research is helping shift the conversation about girls’ and women’s health more broadly. We’re finally seeing more open discussions about topics that were often ignored in sport environments—things like menstrual health, puberty, pregnancy, breastfeeding, mental health and experiences of exclusion or vulnerability. There is incredible research happening from coast to coast to coast, including work through our SSHRC partnership grant RE.sport, where many colleagues are working together to re-imagine and rebuild sport so that all girls can play for as long as they want.
And I’ll admit I’m a bit biased, but I love campaigns like Dove’s #ChangeTheCompliment, which encourage people to focus on girls’ strength, effort and achievements rather than appearance. Those kinds of messages can really help reshape how girls think about their bodies and what sport participation should be about.
Interested in learning more? Reserve your seat for the Legacy in the Making panel discussion featuring Professor Sabiston, Teresa Resch, president of Toronto Tempo, Jayna Hefford, EVP of Hockey Operations, Professional Women's Hockey League, Diana Matheson, founder and chief growth officer of Northern Super League, and Vicky Sunohara, head coach of the Varsity Blues women's hockey.