Donegal girls will be encouraged to get active and get involved when the Sports Recognition for Girls Roadshow rolls into town.

The Donegal Youth Council will launch their Sports Recognition for Girls Roadshow in the Aura Leisure Centre, Letterkenny on Wednesday 26th April.

The Roadshow will continue throughout the month of May, travelling to the Finn Valley Centre, Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair, St Catherine’s Vocational School Killybegs and Scoil Mhuire Buncrana.  

Young ladies from all over Donegal will be attending the roadshows which the youth council have been working hard to develop over the past few months. It aims to promote more female participation in sports, create a more inclusive environment for girls and for female participation in sports to receive adequate recognition in comparison to their male counterparts.  

The event will be the first of many roadshows which is hoping to make a real impact in the lives of girls living in Donegal who may give up sports for a variety of reasons, such as puberty, body image issues, and bullying. They also hope it will be lots of fun.

Donegal Youth Council Coordinator Carlyn Maguire shared that “By the age of 14, girls drop out of sports twice as often as boys. There’s not as many girls playing as there are boys, and I always stress how important sport is for mental health.”

The Donegal Youth Council is a group of 33 young people aged 12-18 years, who identify issues and promote projects to improve the lives of young people in Donegal. It aims to provide young people with opportunities to identify prioritise and work on topics and projects which have been identified by the wider youth population of the county and also to provide young people with opportunities to have their voice heard by being involved in the development of local services and policies which affect them.

Donegal Youth Council is funded by Donegal County Council, HSE Health Promotion and the Department of Children & Youth Affairs and is co-ordinated at local level by the Donegal Youth Service. For more information you can contact Donegal Youth Council Co-ordinator Carlyn Maguire on 074 91 29630 or email youthcouncil@donegalyouthservice.ie