FESI presents its StrongHer Manifesto to get more girls into sport
The FESI manifesto advocates the promotion of female coaches, the creation of the right environment and team for girls, and greater recognition of female role models.
(6-10-2022). FESI launched its StrongHer Manifesto to get more girls into sport and exercise. The paper recognizes 3 main barriers: body image, access to sports facilities and a male-dominated sports culture.
As part of its StrongHer campaign, the Federation of the European Sporting Goods Industry (FESI) has launched a new manifesto, the result of months of work and discussions with its partners, in which the industry details a number of barriers and recommendations to help promote sport and physical activity among young women.
The publication of the Manifesto took place as part of a football tournament organized in cooperation with the football club Kraainem (Belgium), putting into practice some of the main recommendations set out in the document.
Neil Nariman, President of FESI, said during the launch of the manifesto that “today we are facing an alarming trend: 33% of young women between the ages of 15 and 24 never exercise. However, most barriers to girls’ participation in sport can be overcome with greater collective efforts.”
“In line with the European Commission’s #HealthyLifestyle4All initiative, we have decided to join forces within FESI through our StrongHer campaign, promoting good practices and easy-to-implement recommendations,” he added.
Three key barriers
In the Manifesto, FESI and its partners highlight three key barriers to girls’ participation in sport: body image, access to sports facilities and a male-dominated sports culture.
For each of these barriers, the document sets out a series of recommendations addressed to national and European public authorities, sports organizations and the sporting goods industry.
Grouped into three categories, recommendations require promoting women coaches, creating the right environment and equipment for girls, and more recognition of female role models.
The launch of the StrongHer Manifesto took place at Kraainem Football Club, a non-profit organization committed to promoting sport for all, in the presence of the European Commissioner for Equality Ms. Helena Daly, as well as other key representatives of European institutions. The ceremony ended with a football tournament involving mixed teams of youth, girls and boys as well as refugees hosted by the club as part of the initiative.
Laurent Thule, president of Kraainem Football. Think tank Club and Sport & Citizenship, stated that “we must continue to pay attention to women’s access to sport, and in particular refugee women, whose cause is still very little visible in the public sphere, even though sport is driving power in their onboarding process. I would also like to thank FESI for donating sporting goods on behalf of their members to the club and the young refugees. I am very happy to welcome you today at Kraainem Football Club for the launch of the StrongHer Manifesto”, he concluded.
Conferences
Based on the lessons learned on the day and the feedback received on the Manifesto, FESI plans to organize a follow-up conference in Brussels to bring together industry experts, decision-makers, coaches and sports stakeholders. the aim is to discuss the main challenges and concrete actions for Based on the lessons learned during the day and the feedback received on the Manifesto, FESI plans to organize a follow-up conference in Brussels to bring together industry experts, decision makers, trainers and stakeholders countries in sport to discuss key challenges and concrete actions to further improve girls’ participation in sport and physical activity.
The document is available on the FESI website and is open for signature by all interested parties who wish to promote and support the initiative and can submit their request through the online form.
Stop here to access the FESI StrongHer Manifesto
