EmpowerHER Keeping girls in sport during puberty

The EmpowerHER project tackles the high dropout rates of girls from sport during puberty, a critical period marked by physical, emotional, and social changes. Although this challenge was originally identified in wrestling, it extends to many other male- dominated sports, where gender stereotypes, lack of female coaches, and gender-insensitive environments make it harder for girls to stay involved. The project brings together Wrestling Club PIK Vrbovec (Croatia), the Croatian Wrestling Federation, University of Primorsko, Faculty of health science, Department of Kinesiology and physical education (Slovenia), and ETHNIKOS (Greece), a grassroots sports NGO active across multiple sports disciplines, to identify barriers, empower girls, and equip coaches and parents with practical tools to support girls during puberty. Planned activities include cross-sport research to understand why girls leave sport, training of trainers (ToT) sessions to build the capacity of experts, workshops for coaches and parents to raise awareness and sensitivity, and empowerment camps and peer support groups to help girls build confidence, develop a positive body image, and stay engaged in sport. The project will also launch a public awareness campaign showcasing positive stories of girls overcoming challenges, with the aim of challenging stereotypes and promoting inclusive sports environments. A key output will be the EmpowerHER Toolkit, a practical guide for grassroots sports clubs to help them better support girls during puberty, adaptable across different sports and countries.