Playing sports improves mental health in girls: report
A new Canadian study finds sport has a remarkable impact on mental health, particularly among girls.
For an all-female hockey association in Sydney, enrollment has been steadily increasing since they dropped the puck in their inaugural year in the fall of 2018.
“I'm not sure what the magic of it is, but we've grown from about three local girls’ hockey teams in 2014, 2015, to ‘23,” said Christina Lamey, Female Blizzard Association president.
The association will soon be the first in Canada to have their own arena dedicated to female hockey teams when renovations to the CBU Canada Games complex are complete.
It's an important project, and one that is having benefits off the ice as well.
“I think there's some statistics that show that most women that are CEOs have a history in sport,” said Lamey.
According to a recent study, 78 per cent of girls who participate in sport report positive mental health, compared to 68 per cent who did not.
The Canadian Women & Sport Rally report also found sports help build confidence, lower anxiety and improve emotional health.
“Emotions need motion, so getting out and being in community with other people, moving our bodies. The physical health and mental health do have a connection,” said Allison Sandmeyer-Graves, Canadian Women & Sport CEO.
While there's no one sport that is more beneficial than others, researchers say keeping girls together on all-female teams can have advantages.
“I think what's important for any coach or any parent who has a daughter playing in any scenario, but especially if they're in a minority on a boys team, is to really pay attention to how that girl is being included because inclusion and belonging are really critical factors,” said Sandmeyer-Graves.
The report also says sports improve academic performance for girls, as well as body image and self-acceptance.
“We all look the same in hockey gear, so I think it allows girls when they're at their hockey activities to let go of all their social pressures,” said Lamey.
According to the study, data also points to a clear need for sport leaders to receive education on how to build trusting and healthy environments where girls feel comfortable seeking support.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
Residents of northern Alberta First Nation told to shelter in place
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.