This Girl Can

"We just come as we are. We don't *look* at each other. We might have our rough days. We don't mind that. We don't see that." [Netball lady in Behind The Scenes]

This has to be one of the most powerful and appropriate campaigns to get more women into sport.  It hits on the head one of the main contributors preventing women getting into sport: the fear of judgement/what other people think.

I'd say almost all women have thought or still do think a combination of the following when they consider doing sport either at all, or if they already do sport, when they get their kit on to do it (there's only one on the list I *haven't* thought myself):-

• I look lumpy/like a bag of sausages
• My boobs are uneven
• My belly is huge
• My back spills out around my bra straps/my belly/sides spills out of the top of my shorts/tights
• My arms/thighs/boobs/belly will wobble
• My knees are fat
• Someone will see my stretch marks
• I can't do $particular_movement elegantly
• I'll go red and blotchy/get sweaty patches in embarrassing places
• My makeup will run
• I might fall over/off (my bike/scooter/horse/treadmill/stepper...)
• I'll come last

And it either results in putting women off starting to do sport (or sometimes starving themselves if they already do do sport).  The thing is... none of that list matters, nobody will actually care and nobody will point and laugh at you.  Most people are in their own little world, most people are thinking those things themselves and focusing on their own difficulties and the rest are enjoying themselves.

This campaign focuses on the fact that most of us aren't perfect, most of us do have blemishes and jiggly bits (even elite and professional athletes, trust me) and that's OK 'cause you can enjoy yourself, push yourself physically, have your own "you" time when you're not just a label (wife, mother, carer etc.) and how you look doing it, compared with a fantasy ideal, doesn't matter.

This is me (below) after a triathlon last year.  I would usually pick a photo where I look muscular, slim and have no visible bulges and lumps, but this is how I looked on the day.  I wasn't quick, I didn't look slinky, I had lumps, jiggly bits and dimply legs, my boobs were wonky and spilled out under my arm-pits.  But I had fun!  I enjoyed it!  And nobody at all laughed or pointed at me.

So, watch the film and pass it on.  (Cry a bit, like I did.  It's OK.)  And watch the behind the scenes clip too... I love the first quote, "We just come as we are. We don't *look* at each other. We might have our rough days. We don't mind that. We don't see that."

And go do some sport!