Skip to content

Praising Effort Over Appearance: A Coach’s Guide to Start Building Body Confidence

In March, our focus turns to the powerful role sport plays in shaping how girls feel in their bodies. As a coach, you are the most influential person on the sidelines, capable of building a girl’s pride or unintentionally fueling her self-consciousness. To keep girls in the game, we must internalize a critical reality: Low body confidence is the #1 reason why girls leave sport (Body Confident Sport, 2023).

The Body Confidence Gap: Why It Matters

It is a documented fact that girls drop out of organized sport at twice the rate of boys (Tucker Center Research Report, 2018). While many factors contribute to drop out, body image is the primary driver. Research shows that 45% of girls drop out of sports specifically because of low body confidence (Matheson, E. L., et al. 2023). Across the globe, girls in sport report being objectified, teased, bullied, and stereotyped as “non-sporty” because of their bodies, which directly feeds into a negative body image (Matheson et al., 2023). Even more distressing is the culture of criticism they often face; 1 in 2 girls who quit sports reported being criticized about their body type (Matheson et al., 2023). When we address how girls think, feel, and act toward their bodies, we are protecting their future in the game.

Defining Body Image: Appearance vs. Functionality

The first step in becoming a body-confident coach is understanding that body image isn't just about what a girl sees in the mirror. It is the combination of her thoughts, feelings, and actions toward her body’s appearance and its functionality (Schneider et al., 2023).

  • Appearance (Outside-In): This is how a girl’s body looks to others. Girls are often bombarded by cultural standards of thinness and "femininity," leading them to evaluate themselves based on external ideals (Schneider et al., 2023).
  • Functionality (Inside-Out): This is what the body can uniquely do. It is about strength, speed, motor skills, and what the body is capable of achieving on the court or field (Schneider et al., 2023).
When we prioritize functionality, sport becomes a sanctuary where girls feel strong and capable rather than objectified. By celebrating what their bodies can achieve—rather than how they look in a uniform—coaches can foster a climate that builds long-term confidence.

 

Recognizing the Pressures

To support our athletes, we must recognize the common pressures that shape their body confidence. These include:

  • Puberty Changes: Growth spurts and weight changes are a normal part of development, but they can be a source of intense anxiety for adolescent girls (National Eating Disorders Association, 2025.).
  • Uniforms & Clothing: Nearly 1 in 5 girls feel uniform or clothing options negatively impact their experience, often because they feel exposed or "un-sporty" (Canadian Women & Sport, 2024). This is especially true for girls who worry about leaking while wearing white outfits during menstruation (Canadian Women & Sport, 2024).
  • Social Media & Peers: The pressure to have a "perfect" look is intense, and girls are often socialized to compare themselves to others (Tucker Center Research Report, 2018)
This pressure continues even at elite levels. Currently, 45% of women NCAA college athletes report they are attempting to lose weight, and women athletes are significantly more likely than men to believe they are overweight for their sport (NCAA, 2024).

 

Why Body Confident Coaching Module 1 is Your Next Step

Understanding the pressures girls navigate is the foundation of effective coaching. Coaches who engage in targeted training, such as the Body Confident Coaching (BCC) modules, report higher confidence in navigating these issues and show lower levels of gender bias and fat phobia (Schneider et al., 2023). This month, your goal is to complete Body Confident Coaching – Introducing Body Image. This learning sets up simple, practical coaching and culture shifts that help girls feel safe, capable, and supported. By shifting our language from how a girl looks to what she can do, we help more girls stay in the game and realize their full potential.

Be HER Reason to Stay in Sport

References

To see all our research on Body Confident Sport visit: https://www.coachingher.com/scholarlypublications

  • Body Confident Sport. (2023). Low body confidence and dropout rates in adolescent girls.
  • Body Confident Sport. (2023). The impact of body criticism on girls' sport participation.
  • Canadian Women & Sport. (2024). Rally Report 2024: A call to reimagine sport so all girls can play.
  • Matheson, E. L., et al. (2023). Global perspectives on objectification and body image in youth sport.
  • National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA). (2025). Coach & athletic trainer toolkit.
  • NCAA. (2024). Student-athlete well-being study: Weight perception and weight loss attempts among college athletes.
  • Nike. (2020). Coaching girls guide: How to get (and keep) girls playing.
  • Schneider, J., Matheson, E. L., Tinoco, A., Gentili, C., White, P., Boucher, C., Silva-Breen, H., Goorevich, A., Diedrichs, P. C., & LaVoi, N. M. (2023). Body Confident Coaching: A pilot randomized controlled trial evaluating the acceptability of a web-based body image intervention for coaches of adolescent girls. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology.
  • The 2018 Tucker Center Research Report. Developing physically active girls: An evidence-based multidisciplinary approach. University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN: Author.
  • Women’s Sports Foundation. (2019). Coaching through a gender lens: Maximizing girls’ play and potential. New York, NY: Women’s Sports Foundation.

Related Articles & Guides