Whistle. End of the match. “ Let’s go Girls, you’re going to be late! » In the gymnasium of Altitude secondary school, in the Pierrefonds sector, the fifteen or so teenage girls playing soccer pretend not to hear anything. Cries echoing, sneakers pounding the floor, the players exchange the ball until the teacher’s final call before the bell rings.
These students are not feint aces or star players on the Altitude soccer team. Their club is FitSpirit, a program which aims to get teenage girls in secondary schools active through non-competitive multi-sport activities taking place only between girls. And it works.
According to new university research released Friday, FitSpirit is achieving its objectives: the initiative allows adolescent girls to more often reach the Canadian recommendation for exercise for young people, i.e. 60 minutes per day of moderate-intensity physical activity to high. The study, led by a professor of kinesiology and physical activity sciences at the University of Montreal, was conducted with approximately 3,600 participants between 2018 and 2022.
“Girls, at the time of their registration at FitSpirit, respect the physical activity recommendation on average 2.6 days per week, while at the end of the year [scolaire]we go to 3.2 days per week,” indicates Geneviève Leduc, senior program advisor at FitSpirit.
At first glance, this result may give the impression “that it’s not that big of a deal,” she admits. “But we have to remember to what extent our target clientele, teenage girls, are the population we have the most difficulty getting moving,” she says. According to Statistics Canada, 35% of girls aged 12 to 17 respected the directive to move 60 minutes a day in 2021, compared to 52.2% of boys of the same age.
In context, each running step is a small victory. According to the research, 32% of participants who were inactive at the start of the program increased their level of physical activity by the end. “One in three girls, for us, is major,” says Geneviève Leduc.
285 schools, 9000 adolescent girls
Launched around fifteen years ago, FitSpirit aims to help those who gave up sport at puberty and convince those who have never been sporty to move more. To achieve this, the organization partners with schools — 285 last year — which organize sports activities in a friendly and feminine setting. FitSpirit also holds “big events,” such as a race in the spring. Last year, 9,000 teenage girls took part in the program.
“Competition is a reason why many girls abandon sport during adolescence,” explains Geneviève Leduc. We know that girls engage more in physical activity when boys are not there. »
At the Altitude school, a gymnasium is reserved every lunchtime for Fitactive. Basketball, volleyball, running, physical training, yoga: activities vary each day. When passing the Duty last week, around thirty teenage girls played badminton or soccer under the supervision of volunteer teachers.
Build connections, create appointments
Among these young girls, Merveille Sildie, 14 years old. She signed up for FitSpirit three years ago “just to motivate herself to do sports”. She is now part of the school’s basketball team. “I feel much healthier,” she says. After dinner, when I don’t come here, I feel really heavy. »
Éliane Moreno likes getting together with girls to play sports. ” We can [se sentir en] confidence, says the third secondary student, who will soon be 15 years old. We can create new links. »
Her friend Eva Ambroise particularly likes organized free outings, such as hiking Mont Saint-Hilaire. This year, around forty students are expected to participate.
To take part, girls must have been present at two race training sessions. A way to motivate them to run. “Last year, when we were hiking, there were many who were behind, who were out of breath just from going up the mountain,” says Sophie Daunais, teacher and running enthusiast.
Before the expedition, teenagers will be able to prepare healthy snacks, such as energy balls, during a cooking workshop. “We included a food component [à l’activité de randonnée], because we noticed last year that the girls would eat anything. They would bring, for example, a miniature bag of chips,” says teacher Hanna Tataurov, who is also involved voluntarily in the program.
His colleague Camille Pelletier-Tremblay does not know whether FitSpirit will have a “long-term” impact on the health and lifestyle habits of his students. But she is delighted to be able to introduce them to sports without them paying a penny. Located in a disadvantaged environment, the Altitude school welcomes many new arrivals. “The vast majority of girls were doing cross-country skiing for the first time during our activity last year,” she said.
Despite the falls, Fatima Ezzahraa Kone, 13, enjoyed the experience. “My friends and I were falling, but we were laughing,” says the second secondary student. The most important thing is not to fall, it’s to get up. »