Body Smart, Game Strong: Building Confidence and Keeping Girls in the Game

Something predictable happens to a lot of girls as they move through their teenage years: they stop playing sport. Not because they’ve lost interest overnight, but because confidence dips, bodies change, and the spaces they once felt free in start to feel like places to be watched and judged instead. This drop-off is especially stark in communities where money is tight, food poverty is real and the support systems that might help a girl stay active simply aren’t there.

Body Smart, Game Strong is a new pilot project designed to look this problem in the eye and do something practical about it.

Why This Project, Why Now

The project builds on existing work with elite female athletes, taking those lessons and bringing them into a community where food poverty is high and nutritional education is limited. The goal isn’t abstract awareness-raising. It’s about giving girls aged 12-18 real tools: confidence-focused sport sessions, workshops on body literacy and nutrition, and genuine leadership opportunities for female and non-binary young people.

The project is being developed in partnership with the Good Health Ally and supported by the University of Brighton. The Good Health Ally will help shape the approach to body literacy, nutrition, and positive health behaviours throughout.

At its heart, the aim is simple – help girls build healthier habits, stronger confidence, and better support networks, so they stay active, connected, and empowered, particularly in working-class communities where access to sport and healthy food is too often limited.

How It Will Work

The project unfolds in four stages:

1. Community Consultation – talking directly with parents and children to gather honest, qualitative insight that will shape everything that follows.
2. Project Development – turning what we learn into workshop content and materials that actually reflect what girls and families need.
3. Workshop Delivery – two interactive workshops covering body literacy, nutrition education, and hands-on healthy food experiences.
4. Evaluation and Future Funding – a full evaluation report with recommendations, laying the groundwork for a longer-term programme.

This July’s activity is a pilot. If it lands the way we hope, it becomes the foundation for a bigger, ongoing Body Smart, Game Strong programme.

Key Dates to Know

• Community Consultation: Thursday 16 July, 6-7.30pm (arrival from 5.30pm) at The Skep, Moulsecoomb Place. Food and drink will be provided, doubling as part of the nutrition-focused learning.
• Workshop #1 and #2: Thursday 23 July, 6-8pm (arrival from 5.30pm) split into two parts, at The Skep, Moulsecoomb Place.

Food and drink will be part of every session. Not just refreshments, but a deliberate piece of the nutritional education woven through the programme.

Who’s Involved

This is a genuinely collaborative effort. Alongside the core delivery team, a handful of University of Brighton students will take part throughout, attending the consultation, helping design and deliver workshop activities and contributing to evaluation. Parents and children taking part in the consultation will also be supported with vouchers with a value of up to £25 each.

What Happens Next

The consultation on 16 July is where it all starts. It’s a chance for local parents and children to shape a project that’s meant for them, not something designed at a distance and handed down, but something built from what the community actually says it needs.

If you’re connected to families in Moulsecoomb, or simply care about girls staying active and confident through adolescence, keep an eye on this space. We’ll be sharing what we learn from the consultation, previewing the workshops, and reporting back on how it all unfolds, with the hope that this pilot is just the beginning.

Interested in getting involved? Sign up here