Most women quit team sports by the age of 21 - despite mental and physical benefits
While many women play team sports regularly up to the age of 25, participation drops sharply into single figures among women in their 30s, 40s and 50s. The biggest barriers were busy schedules, work commitments, and family responsibilities. Three-quarters of women admitted there are weeks when they struggle to fit in any exercise at all.
The research was commissioned by AXA UK as part of its 'Keep on Kicking' campaign, which aims to highlight the challenges women face in staying active in team sports throughout different life stages.
The campaign also celebrates AXA's sponsorship of this summer's UEFA Women's Euro 2025 in Switzerland and its support for Women's Walking Football across the UK.
Tara Foley, CEO of AXA UK & Ireland, said: "It is concerning that so few women over 18 are currently taking part in team sports. Being part of a team, whether in business or on the sports field, helps to develop so many valuable skills, as well as building resilience and forging trusted relationships.
"We hope AXA's sponsorship of this summer's Women's EURO and support for Women's Walking Football will shine a light on the benefit of getting involved in a team sport, at whatever stage of life you are at, can bring."
Tash Dowie, who retired from professional football in 2023, also voiced her disappointment. 'Team sport has played such a huge role in my life and the benefits for mental and physical health can't be underestimated,' she said.
Dowie, now a Liverpool FC ambassador, recently attended an event at Anfield where women aged 50 and over played walking football. She said: 'Some had experienced cancer or strokes and this was almost like their second life. I think it's really powerful and important that the older generation get that opportunity to have a go now. They tell me how important it is for them mentally as well.
"It's saved a lot of people's lives being able to play the game, socially in that environment of being around people."
The study found that women who exercise do so three times a week, including twice with others. Of those who play team sports, 84 percent wish they could find the time to play more often with football, basketball and netball being the most popular choices.
Encouragingly, nine out of ten parents said it was important to set a positive example for their children when it comes to exercise. Dowie added: "Providing opportunities for women to re-engage with team sports at whatever age, such as Women's Walking Football, is a really positive step towards helping them stay healthy and enjoy the camaraderie that being part of a team brings."
Tara Foley echoed this sentiment, saying: 'As a health insurance provider, we know the long-term benefits of staying fit and healthy – both mentally and physically.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
an hour ago
- Times
Alcohol advertising ban dropped after industry backlash
A planned ban on alcohol advertising has been dropped after a backlash from industry. Public health measures considered for inclusion in the government's ten-year plan for the NHS have been left out after pushback from Treasury and business ministers concerned about the impact on the economy. Tougher health warnings telling drinkers that alcohol causes cancer are being considered, but there is unlikely to be a blanket requirement for them to be carried on bottles. Ministers have considered a model in Ireland, where alcohol packaging will soon be required to carry labelling warning of a 'direct link between alcohol and fatal cancers'. The plan is expected to include suggestions for exploring such a policy. Health officials had originally hoped to include a minimum unit price for alcohol in the plan, importing a Scottish policy that means a pint of beer cannot be sold for less than about £1.50 or a bottle of vodka for less than £20. However, this was vetoed at an early stage, while alcohol advertising restrictions remained in play. This could have been either a total ban or a 9pm watershed designed to bring alcohol into line with rules being introduced this year for unhealthy food. The Times understands that alcohol advertising restrictions have now been dropped from the plan to be published on Thursday after public health measures were watered down. • Restaurants to report diners' calorie counts in obesity drive The development followed a furious response from the industry, which urged ministers not to add to burdens after a rise in national insurance and the minimum wage. Emma McClarkin, chief executive of the British Beer and Pub Association, told ministers of 'extreme concern' in the industry, criticising advertising restrictions as 'disproportionate, misguided and economically damaging' and warning they could lead to bankruptcies. She pointed to figures showing under-age drinking at record lows as young people turned away from alcohol. 'The beer and pub sector is not just an economic engine — it is a cornerstone of British culture and sport,' McClarkin said. 'These proposals were not included in the Labour Party's 2024 manifesto and risk being widely perceived as anti-growth and anti-business.' Health campaigners condemned the retreat on advertising restrictions. Jem Roberts of the Institute of Alcohol Studies said: 'One of the main goals of the ten-year health plan was to 'shift from treatment to prevention' — yet if reports are accurate, all of the prevention policies for one of the leading causes of death have been stripped out. 'That would be a baffling contradiction at the heart of a plan meant to prioritise prevention.' He said 'alcohol giants making billions from harm will be rubbing their hands in glee', adding: 'Ministers must now stand up to private corporate profits, protect the most vulnerable and, if alcohol is too 'difficult' for the ten-year plan, commit to a standalone alcohol strategy where all evidence is reviewed and all cards put openly on the table.' Campaigners have been warning of a rise in alcohol deaths. More than 10,000 people a year die directly from alcohol in the UK and deaths in England are at record highs. Thousands more cancer deaths are thought to be attributable to alcohol. Treatment costs the NHS at least £3.5 billion a year.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
The GAA Social Niall McDonnell- winning Leinster & being a goalkeeper
This is a different but hugely honest insight into goalkeeping. The picture of the summer sits in Niall's living room- a first Leinster championship in more than 60 years- his photo summed it up. He'd like changes. Four points for a goal and believes goalkeepers should be allowed to take a return pass. Some agree, some don't. What is the culture in Louth- what can they go? Niall found out he was dropped by Mickey Harte because he was removed from the Whatsapp group. It was a low point and part of the rought & tumble of GAA- but he decided he decided to do something about it. He had to lose weight, and he did, facing that challenge head-on. This is great stuff. Louth begin the search for a new manager- this podcast shows what they're about, and where they can go. A brilliant listen
BreakingNews.ie
an hour ago
- BreakingNews.ie
HSE chief admits waiting lists for assessments for children with disabilities will get worse
The head of the Health Service Executive (HSE) said on Tuesday that he was 'hugely' concerned at growing waiting lists for disabled children seeking vital health assessments and admitted the crisis will get worse. Bernard Gloster acknowledged a 'significant challenge' in tackling the crisis, with more than 15,000 children with serious disabilities waiting to access their legal right to assessments. Advertisement When asked if the crisis was 'going to get worse before it got better', Mr Gloster replied: 'Yes'. The HSE chief said: 'Until we get extra capacity and until we reform the legislation, we are going to be challenged.' 'It would be very wrong of me to say anything different to people across the country, it would be untruthful to do that,' he told reporters in Limerick. The HSE predicts that the children's assessment waiting lists will increase to beyond 25,000 by the end of this year. Advertisement After meeting Cara Daramody, a 14 year old campaigner for the rights of children with disabilities, Mr Gloster pledged that the HSE will advertise tenders for assessments to the private clinicians, to try and tackle the problem. Prior to the meeting, Ms Darmody, accompanied by her father Mark Darmody, called out the government via the HSE for breaching current legislation requiring it to provide health and education needs assessments for children with disabilities. Ms Darmody said children had been left to 'rot' on the waiting lists and urged Mr Gloster to act fast to rescue the waiting list backlog for the vital assessments. Ms Darmody, who led a 50-hour protest outside the Dáil last month highlighting the crisis, said she gave Mr Gloster 'crucial information that totally contradicts the myth that capacity has been reached in the system in relation to the number of psychologists available to assess autistic children'. Advertisement Ms Darmody said she also informed Mr Gloster that she is aware of 'private' clinicians who have sought to help reduce assessment waiting lists but who have been delayed in doing so by bureaucracy. Ms Darmody claimed she knows of at least one private clinician who could have 'eradicated' the AON waiting list in her home county of Tipperary over the last 12 months, by performing an additional 220 AONs, had they been given the opportunity. Ms Darmody said the clinician had applied for a HSE Assessment Tender last October, 'but only got confirmation a month ago' that they had been accepted. Ms Darmody questioned 'why in the middle of a national crisis did it take eight months', and she accused the government of not acting fast enough on the waiting lists. Advertisement Mr Gloster said this evening he was 'taken aback' at the details presented to him by Cara Darmody and Mark Darmody. Commenting on the alleged eight-month wait for the provision of the assessment tender, Mr Gloster said: 'I have to say, it can happen, we are a very big organisation and we have to have rules and systems, and they, by their nature, can become bureaucratic.' 'I'm the first to put my hands up and say, that's for us to do better.' 'I don't think that my own people are doing anything bad or wrong, but it is for us to better, we are paid public servants and Cara and her Dad are not.' Advertisement Mr Gloster said, going forward, he would try to 'tighten the timeline' on assessment tenders applications by the private sector. He acknowledged that 'in the short-term' the HSE required 'help' from the private system to help reduce the assessment waiting lists. 'In the next few weeks, we are going to redesign the specification of private sector provision to help us provide assessment of need,' Mr Gloster said. 'We are going to widely advertise and promote it, so that if there are suitably qualified clinicians who can conduct an assessment of need, and who are qualified and registered to do so, and are safe to do so, then there will be no issue with us using that additional capacity,' he said. 'Even if it possibly reduced the timeline for a couple of hundred (children), then it would be a really productive thing.' Mr Gloster said: 'If you apply for an assessment of need, you are entitled to it in law; you should be able to get it.' The Limerick health service boss said other 'challenges' existed beyond the assessments, including timelines over children's access to 'therapeutic support and intervention'. 'The amount of therapists we have in Ireland that are available to us is limited, but the government are making some really good interventions to increase the supply,' he said. Mr Gloster said that Cara and Mark Darmody's 'anecdotal evidence' of a possible reduction in the waiting lists may exist in the private system; their arguments to investigate it further were 'legitimate and appropriate'. Mr Gloster acknowledged that it had been 'a while' since the HSE had 'updated' its 'framework' of assessment providers, 'so, therefore, there is nothing to lose and everything to gain' by investigating potential capacity in the private system. 'If (it is) proven that there is capacity out there that isn't being used, we'll be delighted that more that can be done, because it means that we can immediately enter into arrangements with professionals to buy additional services to support our own (services),' Mr Gloster said. Ms Darmody described their meeting as 'extremely successful'. 'I got what I wanted from the meeting, which was for Mr Gloster to look into the issue and to start looking for solutions nationally, and in my own county, Tipperary, and possibly internationally,' Ms Darmody said.
