No, the transition to middle school is not always synonymous with a drop in sports practice among young girls! On this Thursday evening in October, the La Rose des vents gymnasium, in Aulnay-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis), bears witness to this. In the room, around twenty teenage girls from the Aulnay Handball club train under the eye of their coach, Jennifer Bouchez. Among them are young people from the handball section of Victor-Hugo college, located a few dozen meters away, mixed with players from the surrounding neighborhoods, who practice the discipline extracurricularly.
Getting teenage girls to play four evenings a week, not counting the compulsory physical education and sports (PE) course at college and weekend matches, is a challenge. The figures speak for themselves: the proportion of girls practicing sixty minutes of light physical activity or forty minutes of intense activity per day falls to 11% between 15 and 17 years old, compared to 14% in the 11-14 age group. years, according to the National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety.
In Aulnay-sous-Bois, the young girls interviewed defined themselves as “very sporty”, but the idea that teenage girls can drop out of sport around the age of 13 does not seem incoherent to them: “By entering 4eI had lost a little in levelremembers Safiatou, today in 3ewho follows training from the benches, his arm in a sling after an injury in training. Handball is getting harder and harder, so don’t be discouraged. »
There “body transformation” plays a certain role, believes Jennifer Bouchez, who points out a player, one of the most slender in the group. “This student suddenly grew up, she says. Her legs started to get tangled, she could no longer “break her abs” to pull. When the body changes, there are things to relearn. »
Sports and academic excellence
For other issues related to puberty, including periods, the key is to not have “no taboo”. Sometimes a player has too much stomach ache to train. This essential subject of women’s sport is not put aside: “We are also here to teach them how to manage these moments when we are less efficient”assures Jennifer Bouchez.
If puberty plays its role, should we also blame gender bias? According to data from the National Institute of Youth and Popular Education, girls are more likely to enroll in sports that are traditionally associated with them – horse riding, gymnastics and ice sports – but also in mid-life activities. path between sport and artistic expression, particularly dance. “I’ve already heard that football is for boys. But not the hand”points out Safiatou.
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