The Calderdale sports clubs encouraging women and girls to get involved

In recent years, visibility of women’s sport coverage has grown, with coverage hours across free-to-air and pay-TV in the UK exceeding 10,000 hours for the first time ever in 2025, according to the Women’s Sport Trust, and between 2020 and 2024, the FA said the number of women and girls playing football increased by 56 per cent.

Research conducted by Sky found that working women who played extracurricular sports as a child were 50 per cent more likely to be in a senior professional role as an adult, and it also found that participation in team and competitive sports helps to develop leadership and teamwork skills, as well as resilience and self-esteem.

Despite these benefits, there is a participation gap between girls and boys playing sport at school and the grassroots level.

In Calderdale, there is a wealth of different sports clubs which are encouraging women and girls to get involved, from Hebden Bridge’s women-led Northern Powerhouse Boxing Academy, to Lightcliffe Cricket Club’s newly launched girls-only cricket sessions, to Brighouse Town which has seen an increase in girls taking up football over the last few years.

Josie McNamara is manager of Northern Powerhouse Boxing Academy (NPBA), based at the Trades Club in Hebden Bridge.

The club is women-led, meaning most of its coaches and management are women, but the club welcomes everyone, with current members ranging from age seven to 84.

The club has seen an increase in members over recent years, running a range of classes – from strength and conditioning, to boxercise, to circuits and bootcamps – at various times of the day, seven days a week.

Josie suggested the welcoming environment, and lack of competitive atmosphere, could be behind its growing popularity.

She said: “When you offer a place where women feel welcome, that’s when you start to see a real increase in numbers.

“I think so many gyms can be competitive. This gym was started because there aren’t very many boxing clubs where women can walk through the door and feel that they belong there.

“It can be a very competitive, testosterone fuelled environment – obviously, it’s boxing – but that shouldn’t rule out women.

“Women should be able to go in there and hit bags because they’ve had a bad day at work, or work out with their friends and have fun while keeping themselves healthy.

“I think the more places that can provide that experience for women – that they can come and get whatever they want out of it.”

Josie has coached the club’s teenage girls’ class for seven years. She said the aim is to keep things fun, without any pressure.

“We try and run classes where girls can just come along and take part, keep active and hang out with their friends without the pressure of needing to win or even get in the ring,” she said.

Katy Winters, a Calderdale-based pelvic health physiotherapist, has been attending the boxing academy for several years.

Katy said, through her work, she sees many women with pelvic floor problems such as bladder and bowel leakage, pelvic organ prolapse and menopausal symptoms.

She said these kinds of issues can be a “huge barrier” to exercise for women.

Despite this, Katy said movement and exercise can be protective and help strengthen a woman’s pelvic floor – although anyone concerned about an issue should first check with a healthcare professional to ensure the exercise is helpful to them.

“Movement and exercise is protective and helps strengthen a woman's pelvic floor and core muscles, which helps with many pelvic heath problems.

“Research points to health professionals like me encouraging activities like boxing, and resistance training – in a safe way – combined with a good stretching regime, and a healthier lifestyle.

“It can hugely help with pelvic and menopausal issues both physically and emotionally,” Katy said.

Katy added that clubs can encourage women to take part in sports by offering lots of different activities in the local area that work around busy lives: “Having access to lots of different activities in Calderdale that work around timings for busy mums/professional women is exactly what is needed, as opportunities and timings can be a barrier around responsibilities.

“The new regime at NPBA really caters for this,” she said.

At Brighouse Town AFC, the number of women and girls playing football has increased significantly in the last few years.

Emma Dobson, women’s first team manager, has coached the club’s junior girls squad all the way from under-nines through to under-16s.

Emma said girls are now encouraged to play sport more than they were previously, and that taking up sports such as football is seen as more acceptable for girls today.

“It’s not seen as a little bit weird, it’s seen as really normal, and it’s not questioned anymore, which is fantastic,” she said.

Emma explained how clubs can make sports more welcoming for women: “I think it’s just generally having a community around you that believe in the same thing as you, that want to do the same thing as you.

“A place where you feel safe to do physical activities is ultimately really important, in a non-judgemental space, in a space that’s probably designed for you as well, in a space that’s changed for women.

“Even things such as the facilities are made more suitable for women to participate in sport.

“At a men’s football match the toilets might not be open, for example, but at the women’s game everything’s made sure that it’s open so that women can access the toilets if they need to.”

“Ultimately it’s just having an environment that’s safe and secure for women to thrive,” she added.

Mia, 17, has played at the club since she was seven years old, and said the skills she learns on the pitch help her in life off the pitch, too, such as confidence, leadership and working in a team.

“Now I’m at college, and there’s certain things I’ve got to do where you’re in a team environment, and that’s exactly what I’ve learnt here, so it sort of all goes into one big thing,” Mia said.

Back in April, Lightcliffe Cricket Club launched its girls-only free cricket sessions, as part of Yorkshire Cricket and the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (ECB) pledge to get more girls playing cricket.

Stephen Naylor, committee member at the club, said they wrote to every school in the area inviting girls aged seven to 11 to take part.

“We promoted our weekly sessions centred on fun activities and coaching in a positive environment designed to build confidence with every catch, hit and run,” he said.

Stephen said emphasising the fun element over competitiveness was important in encouraging girls with no previous experience of cricket to take part: “For many girls, especially those with no prior connection to club cricket, the most important first step is not selection or scorecards; it is feeling that the game is welcoming, enjoyable and theirs. Learning, skills and fun at the core.”

The initiative has been a success, with around 20 girls attending the weekly sessions.

The club hopes the girl-only entry route can develop into something “visible and lasting,” with plans to “play games and keep developing the girls’ skills and love of the sport”.