N202-801 King Edward Avenue, Ottawa Ontario Canada K1N 6N5 Tel: (613) 562-5667 Fax: (613) 562-5668Email: caaws@caaws.ca Web: www.caaws.ca

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WEB SITE RESOURCES

Canadian Athletes Esteem Teamwww.esteemteam.comParks and Recreation Programswww.highfive.org

Relationships and Communication:

! Practice mutual respect and learn allparticipants’ names

! Provide sincere, positiveencouragement and recognize effort

! Listen to your athletes andparticipants. Acknowledge thefeelings behind what a youngwoman is saying.

! Show unconditional regard: when ayoung woman misbehaves, dislikethe behaviour, not the person

! Avoid sex-stereotyped activities andcomments, such as ‘don’t act like agirl’ or “ you’re just a tomboy”

! Avoid comments about body sizeand shape, reinforce commentsabout ability and skill.

! Praise girls for their skills andsuccesses, instead of praising them

for their appearance. Tell them‘you did a great job today’ not ‘youlook great today’.

Ask young athletes “how the gamewent” versus “did you win?” Youmay find that they speak of theirpersonal best moments as thehighlight and not the final score.

Encourage young men to talkabout feelings and to solveproblems in non-violent ways

Encourage young women todeclare boundaries and to say noin an assertive not aggressivemanner.

Interact in intentionally inclusiveways: reject all discrimination orstereotyping based on gender,race, age, ethnicity, body size,ability or sexual orientation.

Self-Esteem, Sport andPhysical Activity

Self esteem is defined by the degree worth and competence that we attribute toourselves.

Through sport, we may enhance our self esteem by having a positive image of ourbodies and the physical skills and abilities that we develop. We feel positive self worththrough the recognition that we receive from family and friends and the socialrelationships that develop as a result of our involvement in sport and physical activity.

Yet, we may be vulnerable to low self esteem in sport and physical activity if weperceive our body to be inadequate, unfit or inappropriate for our selected activity. Wemay feel that our self-worth is judged on our losses and wins versus our abilities andintentions. The intensive participation in sport may lead to social isolation and lack offamily support. All of these negative emotions need to be refocused in order to buildpositive self-esteem.

Coaches, physical education teachers and active living leaders can positively influenceself-esteem and provide girls and women with ongoing incentive to participate andpersonally succeed in physical activity endeavours.

How Can Individuals Enhance Self-Esteem?

Coaches, Leaders and Teachers

Self-Esteem, Sport & Physical Activity

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A Book of Self-Esteem

Tasks and Strategies:

! Present yourself as a positive rolemodel and share your experiences.

! Introduce your athletes andparticipants to dynamic womenleaders who convey strength andindependence. All too often womenare seen as chauffeurs or watergirls;they need to be seen as officials,coaches, and leaders.

! Encourage athletes and participantsto set individual goals with realistictime frames so that success can bemonitored and achieved.

! Use training logs so that goals andtargets are in small steps and notonly focused on competition.

! Provide positive assertivenesstraining examples or coursesallowing the participant to “say whatthey want, when they want in theway they want”

! Profile all participants by highlightingtheir uniqueness, their determinationand their successes in local articles,social nights, resume writing, groupdiscussion, team athlete cards, “ourfamous” wall.

! Include family and friends by havingthem write a letter to an athleteabout what they mean to thembefore going away on a tournamentor event. Then have the athlete openthe letters from home while on theroad. Often writing a letter allows usto express our feelings.

! Have athletes or students make ascrapbook of their enjoyment ofsport or physical activity capturingthe essence of why they participate.

Programming! Ensure early successes based on

realistic, gradual progression

! Make activities relevant to youngwomen: focus on co-operation,relationships, fun and skilldevelopment

! Allow participants to try differentroles within the game or activity asopposed to always being only onone position on a team.

Decrease competitive situationsduring learning

Involve participants in makingdecisions and affecting outcome.

Be clear where there are rules andwhere there are decisions to bemade.

Ensure that every participantexperiences some form of successand that this is acknowledged atthe time or within the season.

Meet with parents to discussvalues and attitudes towardphysical activity and how you canwork together to foster physicalsuccess and self-esteem

Give young women and youngmen equal attention and equal airtime.

Forbid racist and sexist remarks,harassment, bullying and verbaland physical abuse. If a situationoccurs, act immediately to correctit.

If you suspect that a young womanhas (or is developing) an eatingdisorder, help her get counsellingimmediately

Provide young women withphysical challenges. Ensure safetywithout overpro9tecting girls andyoung women (e.g. ensure saferoutes to and from program sites,travel in groups, try co-ed teamsand teaching, and provide safe,high-quality equipment).

Give young women responsibilitiesand leadership opportunities

Get involved. Find ways toinfluence your organization’ ssupport of young women.

‘Self-esteem isn’t

verything; it’s just

there’s nothing

without it…”

-- Gloria Steinem

Revolution from Within:

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Self-Esteem, Sport & Physical Activity

Self-Esteem

self-worth.”

Self-esteem – a young woman’s perception of self-worth – develops gradually as shematures and interacts with others. The younger years in a child’s life are critical forproducing positive self-esteem and may be influenced by personality, parentingtechniques and role modelling. Adolescence is another critical period for developmentand preservation of positive self esteem especially for young women. If parents,teachers, coaches and others communicate approval, liking and respect, a childdevelops positive feelings of self-confidence and self-worth. Conversely, if significantothers belittle a child and communicate that she is not worthwhile in her own right, hewill tend to view herself as unworthy.

While self-esteem is most strongly developed at a young age, individuals and societycontinue to affect and influence self-esteem throughout our lives. It is never too late toalter one’s perspective and encourage positive self-worth.

Low levels of self-esteem in young women may be the result of discrimination, sexism,inequities in all aspects of life, harassment, abuse, dysfunctional family life, a lack offemale role models, poor parenting or the portrayal of women in the media.

Adolescent women with low self-esteem are more likely to suffer mental healthproblems (such as depression and eating disorders); to engage in high-riskbehaviours; to have problems in school and in their relationships; to have negativebody images and obsessions with weight, body size and shape; and to drop out ofphysical activity.

While every young woman is unique, recent Canadian studies paint a negativecomposite picture of self-esteem and young women in Canada today.

! Although a majority of young women say they feel good about themselves,young men consistently score higher on all measures of self-esteem.

! Young women lose self-esteem during the high school years; the gapbetween young men and young women increases throughout adolescence.

! Young women’s self-esteem is more dependent on relationships (especiallyon families) than young men’s.

! Young women are more likely to do nothing when bullied and to avoidconfrontation at all costs.

In 1988, a National Task Force on Young Females and Physical Activity defined theproblem of self-esteem and physical activity this way:

Females, beginning at an early age, under-value and underestimatetheir capacity (and potential) for competency in physical activity. Thisview is shared by others in society, including male peers. As a result, agirl’s competency in physical activity constantly falls further behind hermale peers. She may select only activities that are traditionally female,or worse, be turned off physical activity altogether.

There is good evidence to suggest that sport, active living and physical education canhave a positive effect on self-esteem in adolescent women. Indeed, we have a moralresponsibility to offer programs with ethical leadership that foster feelings of self-worth.

“If parents, teachers,

coaches and others

communicate approval,

liking and respect, a

child develops

positive feelings of

self-confidence and

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Self-Esteem, Sport & Physical Activity

This articloriginally CAAWS aEdwards.revised anDr. Julia A

Copies ofavailable

Promotion andCommunication

! Portray sport, active living andphysical education as co-operative,inclusive activities that encourageyoung women to develop a positive,active self-image.

! Use multi-cultural visuals of bothsexes in all promotional material andcover both men’s and women’sevents. Show a variety of shapesand sizes and depict young womensucceeding in non-traditionalactivities.

! Use non-sexist language in allcommunications. (See Words toWatch: A Few Suggestions forTreating Men and Women AthletesEqually in Sport Reporting andCommentary)

Programming

! Promote a healthy body image andhealthy behaviours in all aspects ofthe program

! Examine injury statistics, trends andthe long-term safety implications ofadvancing technology.

! Provide training sessions on gender-specific needs and influencing self-esteem to coaches and leaders.

! Provide accessible skill developmentopportunities, sports clubs andlearning sessions for young womenwho are disadvantaged or physicallychallenged.

Policy

! Examine the policies and practices ofyour organization. Does yourorganization promote gender equityand positive self-esteem. Does itforbid harassment, abuse andnegative practices, such as publicweigh-ins? Does it provide in-servicetraining on the needs of youngwomen? Doe sit promote healthybody images and realistic goals forathletes?

! Enact policies that prohibitharassment based on gender, age,ability, sexual orientation, race,ethnicity or marital status.

! Form an equity committee tospearhead policy and programchanges.

! Enable women with children to stayinvolved. Other flexible work hoursto staff, and manageable tasks andreimbursement for childcare tovolunteers.

! Provide affirmative action programsand professional developmentopportunities that encourage womento take on leadership and coachingroles.

AUTHORS

e is based on a papercommissioned bynd written by Peggy

It was reviewed,d updated in 2003 bylleyne.

the original paper arefrom the CAAWS office.

How Can Organizations and InstitutionsEnhance Self-Esteem?

If sport, school and active living systems are serious about bolstering youngwomen’s self-esteem, they must confront gender inequities that are imbedded in thepolicies and practices of the system. Use this checklist to make your institution’sphysical activity more inclusive, accessible and empowering for young women.

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