Brought to you by Sport Ireland #WomeninSportIRE

Sport Ireland have teamed up with Her for the next month to celebrate some of Ireland's most influential women in sport.

Here at Her, we're always trying to shine a spotlight on Ireland's most inspiring and influential female athletes. And so it's only fitting that for the month of March, Girls with Goals has teamed up with Sport Ireland to profile some of Ireland's most influential women in sport. In each episode we'll be chatting to a different female sporting legend, starting off with former Ireland women's rugby union international Nora Stapleton, who is now Women in Sport Lead with Sport Ireland. Nora represented Ireland in the Women's Rugby World Cup in 2010, 2014 and 2017, and she'll be chatting all about women's leadership in sport as well as Sport Ireland's Policy on Women in Sport. Sport Ireland have been working towards levelling the playing field for female athletes for years. One of its most recent research undertakings is the Adolescent Girls Get Active report, which aims to boost teenage girls' engagement in physical activity. Previous research reports revealed that girls' participation in sport plummets during adolescent years with just 7% of teenage girls meeting the recommended daily activity levels. The Adolescent Girls Get Active report focused on inactive girls and explored their attitude towards sport and physical activity. The findings cited physical, psychological and social barriers as reasons for teenage girls becoming disengaged in sport. Not being fit enough and fears of being judged or ridiculed by peers were among the reasons given by girls for not participating in physical activity. From these findings, the report established ‘8 Principles for Success’, a guide which can be used to boost adolescent girls’ engagement in sport. The study’s '8 Principles for Success' can be used by sports organisations to check and challenge existing programmes, with a view of enhancing them to appeal to teenage girl audiences. They can also be used to develop completely new sporting initiatives that appeal to adolescent girls. Participating in sport and physical activity provides multiple benefits for physical and mental health, and for potential quality of life. However, women and girls have long been an underrepresented group in sport, and teenage girls in particular take part in sport and physical activity far less than the national average in Ireland. This needs to change. For more information on how you can make a difference, read the full report here. Brought to you by Sport Ireland #WomeninSportIRE