LONDON – British Baseball and Softball have joined Sport England in their latest campaign to increase awareness of and celebrate women’s sport at universities. The initiative titled “This BUCS Girl Can Week” takes place in British universities form 20-26 November.
To mark the occasion, BSUK – the administrative organization for British Baseball and Softball — has created a celebratory video, as well as social media share graphics and a Facebook cover photo that university clubs and players can use to show their support for the campaign.
The BUCS This Girl Can Week aims to highlight the huge potential for women to get physically active at universities across the UK and to demonstrate the breadth of opportunities which the Higher Education sector provides to engage women students and staff.
Research shows that gender has a significant influence on physical activity levels. Currently, about 41.7% of men play sport at least once a week, compared to around 31.6% of women. That means that two million fewer women get regular exercise, despite a healthy and active lifestyle being proven to be important to maintain good physical and mental well-being.
Meanwhile, BSUK is taking this opportunity to celebrate their own success in growing softball and baseball in universities and showcase what fantastic options both sports are for female university students everywhere. With 32 clubs and close to 1000 students, the university playing community has exploded in recent years with a mix of talented beginners, veteran international students and experienced domestic players.
With mental health issues among students also seeing a sharp rise in recent years, providing an outlet for the stress and strain of life at university is an under-appreciated facet of the sports. In addition to escapism and physical activity, they also provide much needed social interaction.
These qualities may be why baseball and softball have grown so quickly in the last few years at the university level, especially among women. The bat-and-ball sports are gaining footholds in universities across the country, with increased recognition among students, and increased interaction with British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) through their own events such as the London Universities Sports Leagues that, for the first time this year, had softball as one of its participating sports.
You can download the Facebook Cover Photo here.
