I follow other members in thanking committee members, clerks and witnesses for their participation in what was a very interesting and engaging inquiry.

As many members have already covered, the barriers to engagement and to on-going participation in sport for women and girls are multifaceted. From previous committee work, it was noted that there is a significant drop-off in participation among girls during their teenage years. During the inquiry, we found that there was an additional inequity in participation in physical activity up to the age of 40, and that there were often significant barriers to coming back to organised activity in particular.

One contributing factor that was raised with regard to participation by young women and girls was the focus on competition rather than fun. In physical education in school, a shift towards building skill levels and competition, rather than movement for fun and feeling good, has put some off engaging fully. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health noted that what constitutes fun varies, and it emphasised the importance of giving children the opportunity to try different sports. That is easier said than done, both in a school setting, where teachers are trying to cater for everyone, and for parents after school, in particular where there are multiple children in the family and where participation costs are high.

Eilidh Paterson from Scottish Student Sport said:

“Nobody should be sending a child to a class, session or sport with the aim of them winning. The idea is that they are there to enjoy themselves, to have fun and to make friends with other people. I therefore encourage that to be the central point of all sport and activity, no matter the age or stage of the people involved, although that should certainly be the case in the very early stages. After all, if people do not find sport fun, they will not come back ... they will ... see themselves as ... othered or will be inactive, possibly for life, because they will not see themselves as being welcome in that space.”—[

Official Report, Health, Social Care and Sport Committee,

28 March 2023; c 60.]

We heard in evidence sessions of many adult sports clubs that have regular social sessions in football, hockey or netball, but getting women to the stage of engaging in adult clubs requires overcoming the barriers that we heard about during the inquiry.

The committee also heard that addressing the practical issues of managing periods and puberty, for example by bringing in dark-coloured kit and providing the right facilities, is essential in allowing girls to get on to the pitch or the court in the first place. Changing societal attitudes to menstruation, and providing coaches who have been given an understanding of the impact of periods on players, can also lead many young women and girls to feel comfortable in their sport.

For those who drop out of sport at that time, we need to make it easier for them to come back to physical activity, and to find new activities that they enjoy. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity at university to discover a love of both hockey and rugby—two sports that were not offered at my school. I knew that I was not as good as those who had been playing throughout their school career, but the environment was supportive and encouraging, and it allowed others to share what they had learned to help those of us who were new to those sports.

We also need to be aware of the practical barriers that persist for adults. As I mentioned earlier, cost is undoubtedly a factor in the current climate. Moving from education to the work environment, and the accompanying change in how we live our lives, is a factor, too. I know from my own experience, and that of many others my age who commute, that trying to make it home from work for a 7 pm training session—as I found even before I was in this job—is not something to which we can commit every week.

The other option is playing in a team in the area that you work in, which means that you get home later. At this time of year, the earlier, darker nights—as we heard from Clare Haughey—are perceived as not safe by many. I use that example because we need to be aware that some of the issues in this area cannot be solved purely by sports clubs and sporting bodies.

We have created working environments that mean that it is difficult to fit in all the other things that keep us well and enable us to lead fulfilling lives. Looking at introducing flexible working, a four-day working week and a universal basic income would be a help to many. In addition, adults can be frightened of taking up something new, going into a new social environment or potentially, at the outset, not being very good at something. We need to work on how we normalise trying new things throughout life.

There are many other contributing issues that I will not have time to cover fully, including maternity, sports facilities, caring roles, body image issues, a lack of positive role models and a lack of visibility of women’s sport. However, as this is the start of Scottish disability sport week, I note that more needs to be done on both representation and support in order to enable many of those athletes to engage in lifelong sport.

Many issues were raised in the inquiry, and we need to remember that many of them are interrelated and cannot be tackled in silos. We need to address them across portfolios in order to ensure that as many people as possible have the access to physical activity that they need to keep them well.