運動幫助女孩建立信心

Girls should take part in competitive sport to build confidence and resilience, the leader of a group of girls' schools will argue this week.

Helen Fraser, chief executive of the Girls Day School Trust (GDST), will tell the group's conference that sport can help girls cope with failure.

All girls "and not just the sporty ones" should take physical exercise, Ms Fraser will say.

Research that girls are far less active than boys is worrying, she argues.

"Girls who are in schools which focus solely on academic achievement can experience success after success, and may never learn that you can have a real setback and come back and recover", Ms Fraser told BBC News.

"The experience of losing a hockey game three-nil and carrying on to another match builds resilience".

Ms Fraser will tell the conference that she backs "sport for all".

"That's why I love it when our schools have A, B ,C and D teams and beyond", she will say.

Not all girls like ball games so it's important to find alternatives, says the GDST

The GDST draws on research from the Women's Sport and Fitness Foundation which suggests only a quarter of girls in England meet current recommended levels of physical activity each week, with the proportion taking part in regular sport falling steeply after the age of 10.

One in five girls do no physical activity at all, twice the proportion of boys, the research suggests.

Ms Fraser says other research suggests that More than 80% of senior women business leaders played organised sports while growing up.

She says similar high proportions of female executives believe sport made them more disciplined, resilient and competitive in their careers.

She cites the example of former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, once a competitive figure skater and tennis player, while the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, was in the French national synchronized swimming team.

Ms Fraser says Olympic medallists like Jessica Ennis, Katherine Grainger and Nicola Adams are excellent role models for young women but says women's sport needs better funding and more media coverage.

"I think sport and exercise are ways in which women can reclaim their bodies from the kind of obsessions of the tabloid press and celebrity magazines", says Ms Fraser.

Valerie Dunsford, head of Sheffield High School, part of GDST, said it was important to offer a large range of sports to attract different types of girls.

"Not everyone wants to be out on the hockey pitch", said Ms Dunsford.

"You don't have to be a fantastic sportswoman to bounce on a trampoline and it gives you a great workout."

She said the great sporting advantage of girls schools was a lack of self-consciousness.

"Girls school pupils are less bothered about what they look like. Even of our sixth formers are still happy to put on a leotard and jump on a trampoline."

The GDST is composed of 24 fee-paying schools and two academies.據英國廣播公司6月7日報道，一位女校組織領導表示，競技運動有助於女孩們建立信心和加強恢復力。他們將於本週將就此話題展開討論。

女校信託組織的首席執行官海倫弗雷茲將在會議中宣佈，運動有助於女生更好地應對失敗。

弗雷茲表示“所有女生，不僅是愛好運動者”，都應該參加體育鍛煉。

她說，調查表明，女孩們遠不如男孩們活躍，這是很令人擔心的。

“儘管那些在學校裏只在乎學業成績的女孩們可能會不斷地獲得成功，但她們可能永遠不會意識到自己的不足並且嘗試着去彌補它”，弗雷茲對BBC說。

“如果你能在經歷3比0慘敗的曲棍球比賽後繼續參加另外一場比賽，這將有助於鍛鍊你的恢復能力”。

弗雷茲女士將對會議表明她“無條件支持體育運動”的態度。

她會在會議上說：“這就是爲什麼我很欣賞我們學校分ABCD和其他不同組的原因”。

不是所有的女孩都喜歡球類運動，所以尋找其他的運動就顯得很重要了，英國女子日間公學信託表示。

英國女子日間公學信託在女性運動和健康學基礎裏的調查表明，英國只有四分之一的女孩達到每週應該的體育運動量，在10歲以後，參加常規運動的比例更是猛跌。

調查表明，5個裏面就有1個女孩根本不參加任何體育鍛煉，是男孩比例的兩倍。

據弗雷茲介紹，其他的調查顯示，在年長的女性商業領導裏面，有超過80%的人在成長時期會參加有組織的體育鍛煉。

她說，還有相同高比例的女性高管相信，運動讓她們在工作中更加自律，富有彈性，和更加有競爭力。

她還進一步以美國萊斯州前祕書爲例子，當面臨一個強有力的並且還會滑冰和打網球的對手時，作爲國際貨幣基金組織的領頭人，克里斯汀拉加德，正在法國國家游泳隊裏面奮戰。

弗雷茲說，像傑西卡恩尼斯、凱瑟琳格蘭格和妮可亞當這樣的奧運獎牌得主都是年輕女性的優秀榜樣，但是女性運動的發展還需要更多的投資和更多的媒體鼓勵。

“我認爲運動和鍛鍊是將女人們的精力從對八卦報刊和名人雜誌的癡迷裏面解救出來的最好辦法”，弗雷茲說。

英國女子日間公學信託分支謝菲爾德中學領導人瓦萊裏丹斯瓦爾德認爲，提供不同種類的運動項目來吸引不同類型的女孩們是很重要的。

她說：“不是每個人都喜歡曲棍球。”

“你不一定非得成爲一個在蹦蹦牀上彈跳的運動狂粉，但這將給你帶來一個全新的世界”。

她說在女子學校運動的一個巨大的優勢就是她們沒有那麼強的自我意識。

在女子學校的小學生們相對而言不怎麼在意她們的外表。甚至我們前面的六個學校都仍很樂意讓學生們穿上高領緊身衣在蹦蹦牀上跳躍。

英國女子日間公學信託由24所付費學校和兩個學院組成。