While women’s sport across the United Kingdom is growing at encouraging rates, there are underlying issues that must be spotlighted if this evolution can continue.

The accelerated development of both interest and participation in women’s sport over recent years has been nothing short of magnificent.

Many reasons can be attributed to this growth. Whether it is the Lionesses’ spectacular triumphs in the European Championships — most recently in 2025 — or simply the accessibility of spectating sporting events, the landscape is better than it was a decade ago.

According to the 2025 Westminster Insight – Women and Girls in Sports Conference, “In 2024, UK Women’s Sport attracted audiences of over 44.17 million, an increase of nearly 40% in just two years. Over 2.6 million people attended a women’s sport event in person in 2023, an increase of 23% from the previous year.”

As we know, eyes on sport create revenue. Revenue can be invested back into sports for better facilities, technology, and grassroots development. All of these factors are only going to benefit young women who have aspirations of becoming an elite athlete — or love the social aspects of exercise.

However, while issues remain in women’s sport surrounding professional league infrastructure, funding behind clubs, and creating schedules that allow specific sports to thrive, it is problems at the youth level that require immediate attention.

Women in Sport charity raises serious concerns

Women in Sport is a charity that was established in 1984 with the aim of breaking down barriers that restricted females from having the same basic rights in sport that men had.

Sounds crazy, right? A charity having to fight for basic equality that usually requires a person to kick/throw/hit a bag of air around some form of arena — but I digress.

Notably, Women in Sport’s homepage has a stunning fact as soon as it loads onto your screen: “1.3m girls who once loved sport disengage as teenagers.” This staggering figure is a frightening reality of what these athletes face from such a young age.

According to Women in Sport’s Tackling the Opportunity Gap in Sport for Girls report published on April 2, 2026, nine out of 13 sports had a lower participation rate for girls than boys.

The same report also stated that only one in six opportunities to play sport were specifically for girls.

Even without an overwhelming knowledge in this area, it is safe to presume how intimidating it is for a young woman wanting to join a sporting team that is mainly made up of the opposite gender.

Creating scenarios in which girls can thrive requires more than facilities; it requires environments that are comfortable for them to express themselves and develop physical attributes and social skills.

Why is it essential we tackle these problems?

Tackling these problems is not just a solution to help Great Britain produce elite female athletes for the future; it is about more than that.

Through sports, children create friendships for life; they develop physical and social skills; it allows them to build confidence, and most importantly, it allows them to escape what other issues may be affecting them in their personal lives.

According to the Women’s Sports Foundation’s “Play to Lead” research, “67% of women carry lessons from youth sport participation into adulthood.”

These lessons can range from working as part of a team, learning how to motivate and lead different personalities, or maybe it is something as small as knowing it is okay to make mistakes — without sport, young women are missing out on an opportunity that could open so many doors in the future, both in their careers and social lives.

Even with years of experience, compromise and trust are two life skills that few have mastered, but without being exposed to environments which push these boundaries, how can anybody ever expect to put these things into practice?

Basketball is not immune from these issues

As I am typing this article, a situation is revealing itself in the world of British basketball that is a perfect example of why aspiring female athletes call it quits on their journey at an early age.

Basketball England has advertised “exposure camps”, allowing young athletes, both girl and boy, to showcase their ability on the court with the hopes of making it to the next level.

On X, Hoopfix Creator, Sam Neter, stated that these camps cost £22 per person to take part in — and without any actual knowledge of the situation — I would presume the success rate of said camps has not been carefully explained to each child, leading to a loss of confidence, and most likely, a loss of interest.

Additionally, Sam Neter also revealed that for the few who have worked their way into the Under-17 England Girls and Boys rosters, they are expected to pay a total sum of £240 to represent their country.

This may not show a gender imbalance as such, but the vastly lower future compensation on the women’s side of the game could subconsciously prevent parents from paying this kind of money for something that should be considered an achievement — especially in the current financial climate.

How do we tackle these problems?

There is no simple solution to these issues, or we would not be having this discussion, but there must be an evaluation from governance to grassroots, and we must ask ourselves: are we doing enough?

Are we making these environments safe and inclusive? Are we catering to young women’s needs rather than replicating male activities? Are these activities as affordable as possible and not a blatant cash grab? No name drops on that one…

Discussions are easy; action is the difficult part. However, if we are not willing to make sport a safer and more inclusive world for these young women, or even for our daughters, then who is going to?