When someone says a person throws like a girl , they are most often being insulting. Today, girls participate in a wide variety of sports and they are giving boys a run for their money. Sports participation can help to keep girls healthy and assist them in increasing their self-esteem and confidence. Now that girls are competing side-by-side with boys , this insult can now be considered a compliment. At Turning Winds, we believe participation in sports is a crucial element of ensuring young girls become fearless young women who are ready to face life with no limits.
Teens Girls Need to Have Opportunities to Excel in Sports
Girls are often placed under tremendous pressure to look a certain way. It doesn’t help that countless fashion magazines further push unattainable ideals by making girls think they can never be good enough, thin enough, or attractive enough. When girls get involved in team sports, their entire outlook on themselves changes . As they push themselves towards success, they work to reach their goals without basing their identity on what the world thinks of them. This is why Turning Winds makes sure our female residents are offered plenty of opportunities to participate in a variety of sports and physical activities to ensure their physical fitness is kept at its prime.
There are many benefits to girls participating in sports, some of these benefits include:
Reclaiming the Body Through Purposeful Movement
Watching a teenage girl realize her body is an instrument for strength rather than an ornament for display is a profound clinical shift. When a young woman arrives exhausted by peer scrutiny, traditional talk therapy often hits a wall. We find that physical exertion bypasses this verbal defense system. The moment she focuses entirely on navigating a physical obstacle, the internal narrative of not being enough temporarily shuts down, creating a crucial opening for therapeutic progress.
When evaluating therapeutic environments for a daughter struggling with self-worth, look closely at how physical activity is integrated. Ask two specific things: first, does the program use movement strictly as a recreational outlet, or is it intentionally tied to somatic regulation? Second, how do clinicians handle the inevitable moments when a girl refuses to participate due to body dysmorphia or physical insecurity?
The right environment does not simply mandate exercise. It uses physical challenges to help her rewrite the story she tells herself about her own capabilities, moving her from hiding on the sidelines to confidently taking up space.
∙ Increased physical and mental strength
Important for Girls to Learn to Play with a Team
Girls can also improve their social life by learning to work with others for a common goal . They can use the skills they learn while participating in sports to help them with their education. Team sports activities help girls to invest their time wisely . In a study conducted in 2004, it was found girls who are involved in sports have a much lower highschool dropout rate than those who are not physically active. It has also been found girls who participate in sports are less likely to become depressed and commit suicide.
We urge parents who are seeing self esteem issues, grade drops, and eating disorders to seek help for their daughter. At Turning Winds, we help troubled teens find their way in life. We combine the best features of a therapeutic boarding school and a wilderness therapy program so lives can be truly changed. Our focus is to help girls become the strong young women they were meant to be. Sports can be the turning point a young girl needs so she can overcome her self esteem issues and rise in confidence.
