PCA Supports Launch of “Body Confident Sport Program” in Partnership with Dove

Download the tools today to help girls build body confidence and make sports a place where they feel like they belong

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Low Body confidence is the biggest reason girls drop out of sport.

• Sports can be a powerful force in a girl’s life. Girls who participate in physical activity – and stay with it through adolescence – are more likely to have higher body confidence and experience benefits throughout life. 
• 45% of teenage girls are dropping out of sport nation-wide, at twice the rate of boys. New research from Dove and Nike has shown that the biggest driver of girls dropping out is the impact the sports environment can have on their body confidence and self-esteem. 
• When puberty hits, girls experience significant changes to their bodies.  These changes can make them feel self-conscious and less confident about their appearance. In sports environments both on and off the field, this can leave girls feeling exposed and vulnerable to judgment and comparison, not only for what their bodies can and can’t do, but also for how they look. However, coaches are uniquely positioned to help positively influence girls’ perceptions of their bodies, but they lack the necessary support. 

Dove and Nike combine strengths to maximize impact at global scale.

• For the first time ever, Dove, the world’s biggest provider of self-esteem and body confidence education, has teamed up with Nike, the biggest champion of athletes and sport, to launch the “Body Confident Sport program”, to build body confidence for millions of girls and make sport a place where they feel like they belong. 

  

• Body Confident Sport is a first-of-its-kind, evidence-based set of coaching tools to build body confidence in 11–17 year-old girls. It’s available on bodyconfidentsport.com and provides coaches with the materials they need to tailor their coaching to inspire body confidence and set girls up for success. 

  

• The Body Confident Sport overview is here and contains both e learning modules for coaches called Body Confident Coaches and a set of workshop materials for coaches to deliver to their athletes, called Body Confident Athletes.
  

A unique set of industry-leading, evidenced-based tools to better support girls. 

• Body Confident Sport was co-developed by Dove and Nike over two years, in partnership with world-renowned experts – including the Centre for Appearance Research (CAR) and the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport – and includes input from girls and coaches from 6 countries, including France, India, Japan, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S. – and includes input from girls and coaches from 6 countries, including France, India, Japan, Mexico, the U.K. and the U.S. 

  

• It includes tools that were scientifically proven in clinical trials with more than 1,200 girls and are proven to improve girl’s self-esteem and body confidence. 
• Body Confident Sport helps coaches to increase girls’ body confidence, body image and self-esteem. It will be delivered to adolescent girls through a network of organizations in schools and sports clubs around the world.

Creating a more equitable future 

• The ‘Body Confident Sport’ program will be delivered with partners globally to improve the body confidence of girls, underscoring Dove and Nike’s long-standing commitments to support women and girls. The partnership leverages each brand’s strengths in order to create greater change globally, with an eye toward a more body confident world for women and girls – on and off the field.