'We don't want sports to be male-dominated'

"All sport is for everybody, and we don't want sports to be male-dominated and female-dominated."

Laura Riley, the community outreach officer for charity Jersey Sport, has been holding events in the island to encourage more women and girls to take up sport.

Libby Barnett, the charity's programmes manager, said teenage girls were 6% less likely to be active than their male counterparts in Jersey.

She said initiatives to keep teenage girls active are "really important" to ensure the gap continues to close.

Jersey Sport said factors such as a lack of confidence and wanting female-only classes were reasons some women did not take part regularly in sport.

Barnett said there could be "simple" solutions such as providing feminine hygiene products and facilities or ensuring girls' sport sessions are led by women.

Barnett said it was "disappointing to see" fewer women in sport than men, but added there had been "real strides in progress" to reduce the difference.

Earlier this month the charity held an event for more than 200 girls in Year 9 and Year 10 to try new a sport.

There were 15 sports including rugby, basketball and skate-boarding.

Riley said: "We want everybody to be able to appreciate and really enjoy all sport."

Ceri Tinley, founder of run club See Her Run, said an all-girls group could "make a difference".

Tinley said: "I think there are feelings of insecurities, perhaps, and they just want a safe space to come and hang out and do sport and get moving."

Belle, 15, said she liked being part of the club because it was "a really nice atmosphere" and "less competitive".

"If you're with boys it's always really competitive and they want to beat you. It's a lot more chill [at See Her Run]," she said.

Lucy, 17, said: "It's really important to have a space where girls can come and see that girls can be great at sport - just as good as boys can be."

Holly Le Feuvre, a member of Jersey Run Club, said she had been put off taking part in sport in the past.

Le Feuvre, who quit gymnastics aged 14, said: "[Gymnastics] was a lot of pressure and a lot of training and hours from quite a young age.

"When I got to my early teenage years it was kind of taking over my life and when you get to being a teenager you realise there's other things you want to do."

Lead rugby coach Julia Williams, however, said England winning the world cup last year had encouraged more women to take up the sport.

The Red Roses were crowned world champions for a third time when they beat Canada 33-13 in front of more than 80,000 people at Twickenham's Allianz Stadium in 2025.

"It's without a doubt given girls the confidence to come and have a go where they might not have done before," she said.

"Whether you are stronger, whether you are fast, you can be taught to use your body in the most powerful way."

Charley Skinner, Jersey Bulls defender, said role models and successful women's teams could encourage young girls to play the sport.

Skinner said growing up she "always wanted to be like" Alessia Russo, a forward for the England women's football team.

She said she hoped the women's Bull's successful first season in English leagues, where they have won all of their games so far, could "bring the younger generation up and hopefully we can inspire them".

Jersey Basketball coach Timea Kraft said it was a "struggle" having low numbers of women playing.

She coaches Jersey's senior women's and under-16s girls' basketball.

"We do struggle, we do not have a women's league or junior women's league so we're playing against men which makes it quite difficult," she said.

Kraft said the team's numbers were growing and the women's team hoped more players would join.

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