ICOACHGIRLS
ICOACHGIRLS aims to promote and increase physical activity and sport amongst primary school age girls through the creation of “Girls Play Centres” in their local communities across six different pilot programmes in Ireland. The centres will be aimed at girls that have never taken part in organised sport or that have tried and dropped out.
Each centre will be staffed by two head coaches to provide the girls with friendly, relatable role models. The head coaches will work with the girls to co-create a 10- session programme of activities which meets their social, psychological and physical needs, gives them a sense of ownership, and allows them to build a positive relationship with sport and physical activity. After the 10 sessions, the girls will be signposted to a series of sport clubs and active leisure activities in order to support their continuous involvement.
ICOACHGIRLS- Play Centres: Providing Positive Movement Experiences for Girls
Background
Physical activity plays a crucial role in child development, contributing to the growth and development of a child’s physical, cognitive, and emotional well-being. Despite this only 13% of primary school girls get sufficient physical activity to meet the physical activity guidelines( CSPPA 2018 | Sport Ireland )
“Girls Play Centres”
ICOACHGIRLS aims to promote and increase physical activity and sport amongst primary school age girls through the creation of “Girls Play Centres” in their local communities across six different pilot programmes in Ireland. The centres will be aimed at girls that have never taken part in organised sport or that have tried and dropped out.
Each centre will be staffed by two head coaches to provide the girls with friendly, relatable role models. The head coaches will work with the girls to co-create a 10- session programme of activities which meets their social, psychological and physical needs, gives them a sense of ownership, and allows them to build a positive relationship with sport and physical activity. After the 10 sessions, the girls will be signposted to a series of sport clubs and active leisure activities in order to support their continuous involvement.
10 Week Programme
At the heart of the Erasmus+ ICOACHGIRLS project is a 10-week programme to be delivered to girls aged 5-11 years who are not currently participating in sport or physical activity .
By engaging them in the 10-week programme of physical activity, the aims are to support each girl to:
- develop a love of being active, tuning in to their internal motivation for being active, and being able to express that through body language and words.
- provide them with age-appropriate knowledge on being physically active and the activities they do in the programme.
- equip them with foundational movement skills linked to balance, co-ordination and agility.
- develop their competence, perceived competence and confidence in their abilities in physical activity.
- support each girl to be physically literate for her age.
- identify an activity or sport that they could take part in in their community.
- engage their parents/guardians in encouraging and supporting each girl to engage in the programme and to transition to an activity/club in their local community.
