There's a gradual awakening around the world that countries need to support and invest in the healthy development of girls so they'll grow into strong, empowered, resilient women - and consequently, into powerful, fully-engaged citizens. And that speaks to the health - and wealth - of a nation.
To Vicki Harber, named this week as one of Canada's 20 most influential women in sport and physical activity by the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women and Sport and Physical Activity, the key to developing that resilience is physical literacy: being adept at many different fundamental movement skills, like jumping, running, throwing, sliding, in a variety of indoor and outdoor environments.
"Physical activity is good for everybody," says Harber, an exercise physiology professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, "But what makes it extraordinarily good for girls and women, is that it's empowering. Women are still considered a 'vulnerable' or 'special' population, so when we think of the power of physical literacy, it's that it develops resilience."
"From an evidence point-of-view we also know, whether through markers of self-esteem, or self-efficacy, for example, that resilient girls are less likely to engage in risky behaviours such as smoking, taking drugs, or becoming pregnant as a teenager."
A member of Canadian Sport for Life's Leadership team, Harber's research focuses on the largely-preventable obstacles faced by female athletes that derail them from reaching their potential: the Female Triad - amenorrhea, osteoporosis and disordered eating, and a musculoskeletal injury rate three to six times that of male athletes. This led her to synthesize the learnings of her own knowledge and the research of others on the subject, to write a document, The Female Athlete Perspective, for administrators, coaches, parents and athletes on the healthy development of the female athlete.
As a result, interest in physical literacy boomed and led the TransAlta Tri Leisure Centre in Spruce Grove to partner with Harber to evaluate its programs - this led to a pilot program for girls to model a physical literacy program in line with the CS4L (Canadian Sport for Life) guidelines. This was a major outcome of Harber's McCalla Professorship in 2011, which, she says, "was specifically to meet the needs of young female athletes with the rationale that it was going to avoid injury and provide better long-term benefits." That spring, the WINGS physical literacy program - to represent the environments of water, ice, nature, grass and snow - for 8-10 year old girls, took flight - to instant acclaim. "Parents are still asking about it and whether it'll be run again this year," says Harber.
"The idea of giving this gift of physical literacy to young women is that it can bolster them to navigate life in their best way possible and make contributions that, without physical literacy, would be less potent," says Harber, noting that in many developing countries there are 'girl' initiatives - "Because I am a Girl," "Girls Count," "Girls' Power Initiative" - which target young girls in Africa, and focus on living with AIDS, provision of fresh water, leadership for girls, reproductive health and educational programs.
"If you invest - not only money - but education and the opportunity to play and be active before the age of 12 you empower a girl to make strong choices on her own behalf and help to ensure that she does not become victimized, nor sold off in society, susceptible to AIDS, or poverty. This investment in these young girls, in a generational sense, is paid forward. They become stronger women. In Canada we're incredibly fortunate, but even within Edmonton we have many pockets in the city where the opportunity to be active, to play are less than what they could or should be. Physical literacy is an imperative investment."
The benefits of physical literacy also extend to elite athletes. Harber and Golden Bears and Pandas athletic director Ian Reade surveyed Olympic and national level athletes across Canada about their early physical activity and sport experiences. "We wanted to know whether learning multiple fundamental movement skills in multiple environments along with participating in a wide variety of sports really delivered," says Harber. Results overwhelmingly supported Harber's theory.
"This is particularly important because we get captivated by the Tiger Woods illusion: that by age two you've got to be doing your primary sport and nothing different. The illusion of early sport specialization is a difficult hurdle to overcome and to get parents, coaches and sport organizations thinking differently," she says.
One of the toughest messages to get across, says Harber, is that, "physical literacy sets the stage for absolutely everybody - and for those who wish to and can become elite. It also sets the stage for someone to be able to use physical activity in the way in which they choose, and it's the same foundation for everyone."