Why Girls Stay and Boys Explore: A Gender Gap in Youth Sport Specialization

Episode 51 of “Jouer comme une fille” reveals how gender shapes early specialization—and why the sport system needs to address it differently for girls.

When Guylaine Demers and Marc Durand launched their French-language podcast “Jouer comme une fille” (Playing Like a Girl), they had a clear mission: spotlight the women working “in the shadows” of Quebec’s sport system and explore how gender shapes sport experiences.

Episode 51, featuring Mariane Parent of Réseau accès participation (RAP)—a Sport for Life partner organization—delivered on both counts. But it also revealed something critical: early sport specialization operates differently for girls than boys, creating unique barriers that the sport system rarely acknowledges.

The conversation, presented by Égale Action and Lab PROFEMS, uncovered patterns that matter for anyone implementing Sport for Life’s Long-Term Development framework: if we want girls to benefit from multisport participation during the Learn to Train stage, we need to understand why they’re more likely to stay put.

The Comfort Zone Gender Gap

“I really feel like this kind of bubble that we’ll prioritize is more present with girls and women versus boys,” Parent observed during the podcast. “It seems like for guys, we accept much more readily that they play soccer in summer, flag football after, hockey in winter. There’s something about diversification that seems more natural for boys.”

Demers and Durand pressed on this observation. If boys are encouraged—even expected—to try multiple sports, what’s happening with girls?

Parent’s answer: “Once a girl finds something that works, we stay there. There’s something comfortable in knowing your daughter is doing well in gymnastics. She’s found her sport. She’s good. She’s made friends. There’s something comfortable in that bubble we tend to prioritize for girls.”

This comfort—this desire to preserve what’s working—runs counter to Sport for Life’s guidance that the Learn to Train stage should emphasize broad, multisport, multiposition experience. But for girls, the pull to stay can be overwhelming.

The Statistics Reveal the Problem

The gender dynamics around specialization don’t exist in isolation. As the podcast hosts noted, recent Quebec statistics reveal a stark participation gap: 68% of participants in federated sports are boys, compared to just 32% girls—a two-to-one gender gap.

When significantly fewer girls participate in organized sport overall, and those who do face pressure to stay in single sports rather than sample broadly, the result is a double limitation on girls’ physical literacy development.

This matters because Sport for Life’s research shows that physical literacy—the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to maintain physical activity throughout life—builds through diverse movement experiences. If girls aren’t getting those experiences, they’re being set up for long-term barriers to participation.

The Social Pressure Boys Don’t Face

The conversation revealed the relational complexity of girls’ sport transitions—dynamics that require understanding to implement Sport for Life’s developmental frameworks effectively.

Parent shared observations from watching her own daughter navigate sport changes. When her daughter decided to switch sports, “the reactions were stronger. Sometimes it was her friends who said ‘Why are you leaving?’ There’s a kind of ‘You were my friend, you’re part of the group.’ That’s very feminine. We don’t want to disappoint. We don’t want to leave a group where we’re comfortable.”

Demers, whose research expertise includes gender in sport, helped contextualize this: the loyalty and relationship focus that characterizes girls’ sport experiences—typically viewed as positive—can become a barrier to the exploration Sport for Life recommends.

But the social dynamics extend beyond peer groups. Parent noted that mothers often build their own social networks around their daughters’ sports: “My mother says that when I stopped skating, it wasn’t just a transition for her—it was grief. She said ‘It was my friends, the other moms in the stands.’ I felt that too with my daughter’s friends’ moms: ‘Now you won’t be with us anymore.'”

When a girl switches sports, entire family social structures shift. Boys’ sport changes rarely carry this relational weight.

When Good Traits Create Development Gaps

What makes this gender pattern particularly challenging is that the traits driving it—loyalty, relationship focus, not wanting to disappoint—are generally considered positive, especially for girls and women.

But in the context of youth sport development, these traits can work against long-term physical literacy. Sport for Life’s Learn to Train stage emphasizes exploration, sampling, and building broad movement competencies. Girls who feel bound by loyalty or fear disappointing their team miss these critical developmental opportunities.

The podcast conversation made clear that this isn’t about individual choice or weakness—it’s a systemic issue requiring intentional counter-strategies.

What Implementing Sport for Life’s Framework Requires for Girls

Sport for Life’s Long-Term Development framework provides clear, evidence-based guidance for the Learn to Train stage (approximately age 8 for females until the onset of adolescent growth spurt):

• Broad multisport and multiposition experience
• Developmentally appropriate programming
• Informal competition emphasizing exploration and skill acquisition
• Fun and socialization as core elements

The podcast conversation revealed that implementing these recommendations effectively for girls means addressing specific dynamics:

Actively normalize sport transitions. Celebrate sampling and exploration rather than treating early commitment as loyalty.

Address the social dynamics. Help girls understand that trying new sports doesn’t mean betraying friends or teams.

Support parents—especially mothers. Recognize that parents build social networks around their children’s sports, and help them maintain connections even when athletes sample different activities.

Create programming that maintains relationships. Design multisport opportunities that keep peer groups together even as athletes explore different activities.

Measure success differently. Value broad skill development and diverse experiences rather than early commitment and specialization.

Why This Conversation Matters

The conversation on Jouer comme une fille highlights what Sport for Life and its partners have long recognized: developing girls’ physical literacy requires more than just offering access—it means reshaping the environments around them. By understanding the social pressures that keep girls in narrow sport pathways and creating systems that celebrate exploration, we can build confidence, competence, and lifelong participation for everyone. The solution isn’t simply telling girls to diversify—it’s building a sport culture that makes diversification possible.