Why Girls Drop Out of Sport | Stopping Dropout | Champion Her Game

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← Back to Coaches Corner Stopping Dropout

Why are we still losing girls from sport — and what can you do about it?

The data is clear. The solutions exist. This page gives you both.

What this page gives you

→Why girls are dropping out in 2025/26 — the real reasons
→What's in your control — and what isn't
→Practical actions for your next session
→Free tools that help you keep every girl in the game
The picture in 2025

More girls are playing than ever. So why are we still losing them?

845,000 girls now play football formally in the UK — up 176,000 since 2018. The Lionesses inspired a generation and the numbers prove it.

But girls are still dropping out at twice the rate of boys. And the reasons haven't changed as much as the headlines suggest. More girls are starting. The question is what happens when they get there — and whether the environment they walk into makes them feel like they were always meant to be part of it.

Not because they don't want to belong. They're already showing up. That's on us.

40%

of girls drop out by age 14

43%

drop out due to confidence or body image

38%

affected by period-related issues

3.4x

more likely than boys to lack confidence in sport

Sources: Women in Sport 2024, Youth Sport Trust Girls Active 2025, UK Parliament Women and Equalities Committee 2024, Sky/Public First 2025

What's driving it

Some of it is outside your control. Not all of it.

Understanding what's in your hands and what isn't is the starting point for every coach who wants to make a difference.

What causes girls to drop out?

Outside your
control

Puberty
Body image
Social pressure
Comparison culture
Social prejudice

Where you make
the difference

Creating a safe environment
Leading with inclusion
Celebrating effort
Building squad unity
Girl-aware coaching

You can't control everything. But the bottom circle? That's where you can make a difference.

The real reasons in 2025/26

You don't need data to know this is happening.

You've seen it. The girl who goes quiet. The one who stops coming. The one who says she's fine but isn't. Here's what's actually driving it.

Confidence and body image +

43% of girls drop out due to lack of confidence or body image worries. Not ability. Not interest. Confidence. Girls are comparing themselves to images of athletes that look nothing like them — and over a third quit sport because they felt they didn't look right.

What you can do

Praise the attempt, not the outcome. Every single session. Create an environment where mistakes are part of learning, not something to be embarrassed about.

Periods and physical discomfort +

38% of secondary school girls say period-related issues have stopped them taking part in sport. Most coaches never ask. Most girls never say. But it's happening in your squad right now.

What you can do

Normalise it. Leggings under shorts — no questions asked. Create an environment where a girl can tell you she's not feeling well without having to explain why. Read our puberty guide →

Social media and comparison culture +

Girls are scrolling through polished images of perfect athletes before they even get to training. The gap between what they see and what they see in the mirror is driving dropout in a way that previous generations never experienced. You can't fight social media. But you can build something stronger.

What you can do

Build a team identity so strong that belonging to it matters more than any comparison. Kit, slogans, rituals — these are the things that create an anchor. Read our social media guide →

Cost and access +

340,000 more girls than boys are excluded from sport due to cost. For grassroots clubs running on tight budgets, this is real. Kit that every girl can access — and that every girl gets — removes one more barrier between a girl and the game.

What you can do

Make the case to your club for investing in girls' kit. CHG has a ready-made funding pitch you can download and send. Download Take It To The Club — free →

The coaching environment +

This is the one entirely in your hands. How you run a session, how you give feedback, how you pick teams — these micro-moments shape whether a girl stays or quietly disappears. A girl who has ever been last picked carries that with her into every session that follows.

What you can do

Never let players pick teams one by one. Praise effort over outcome. Find out what each girl actually needs — not what you assume she needs. Her Voice Matters gives you exactly that →

Why representation matters

The Lionesses inspired a generation. But inspiration isn't enough.

55% of girls say watching professional athletes inspires them to play. But by age 11, nearly 1 in 3 stops believing sport is for them.

The gap between inspiration at the elite level and belonging at the grassroots is where girls get lost. They see the Lionesses and want to play. They look at sports brands and see polished photoshoots of perfect athletes. They look at themselves and feel the gap.

"Other brands put their name on girls. We think that's the wrong name to put there."

Every CHG slogan exists for one reason — to make sure that when your daughter steps onto that pitch, everyone in that ground knows exactly who she is and what she's capable of.

The brand is small. The girl is everything.

See how CHG kit supports your coaching →
Free tool

Find out which girls in your squad are at risk.

Her Voice Matters is a free tool that lets every girl in your squad tell you privately — in 2 minutes — exactly how she needs to be coached and whether she feels she belongs.

The belonging questions are the ones that matter most for dropout. A girl who answers yes to "I'm not sure if I fit into this team" is telling you something you need to hear before she stops showing up.

Try Her Voice Matters — free →
Where next

Dropout doesn't happen in isolation. Keep going.

Understanding why girls leave is the first step. These pages give you the practical tools to make them stay.