This past February marked 10 years of celebrating This Girl Can! An amazing campaign furthering the ongoing fight for gender equality in sport. It pushes back against the notion that athleticism has a single, stereotypical look and reminds women that their presence in sporting spaces is both valid and necessary. The campaign amplifies the message that strength, skill, and passion exist in countless forms – and that every person deserves the opportunity to discover and embrace their own version of being active.
The This Girl Can campaign deeply resonates with Chloe Whitworth because it embodies the very principles she champions as Exeter University Sport President. Inclusivity is at the heart of both the campaign and Chloe’s work – ensuring that every student, regardless of their background or ability, feels welcome in sport. This commitment is evident in her efforts to set up disability football sessions and engage with diverse student communities. Accessibility drives her push for more opportunities like female-only social sport leagues and open sessions, where women can feel comfortable and supported as they explore physical activity. Finally, visibility ties everything together; Chloe understands that showcasing the achievements and initiatives of female clubs and athletes can inspire others to step forward, reinforcing a culture where women’s sports are not just present but celebrated.
I’ve always been really passionate about creating those safe spaces for women – without fear of judgment.
Chloe Whitworth, Exeter University Sport President
Why is the “This Girl Can” campaign important to you personally, and how does it align with your role as Exeter University Sport President?
Personally, being a female athlete in a male dominated sport, I predominantly play football that’s my background. So, with the recent success of the Women’s World Cup, the Euros and the Lionesses and I think I’ve always been really passionate about creating those safe spaces for women – without fear of judgment.
Being in this role has allowed for me to form such good connections with all of our female clubs. A big part of what I wanted to do was ‘visibility’. Through This Girl Can campaign, promoting what it’s all about but also giving those clubs a space to show off what they do.
What have you been up to during the campaign – are there any specific projects or events you’ve led that you’re particularly proud of? And what has been the most rewarding moment for you during this campaign so far?
Just last Thursday we had our This Girl Can Sports Day carousel, which consisted of eleven different sessions that were open to females, led by females. The sports ranged from Dodgeball to Boxing and I tried to participate in every single one and that was the big event of the month! People could go to as many events as they wanted, all free of charge in just a welcoming and safe environment.
What are some of the biggest barriers you’ve noticed that prevent women from participating in sports, and how can universities tackle these challenges?
I think Sport has always been a male dominated field. It’s definitely intimidating if you’ve never played it before and you’ve never grown up in a space where you’ve had that freedom to participate in sport and you’re just kind of used to it as a female.
Sport in general is a little bit intimidating, so throughout the campaign our emphasis has been about just opening the doors and making sure that women aren’t afraid. Even if that is “ah, I’m gonna go with my mates to this dodgeball session because it’ll be super fun and its super chilled” that tiny little opportunity, that spark of “I can” do physical activity in an enjoyably manner, that’s not scary and not intimidating.
Enabling us to slowly chip away at those barriers. I believe universities have such a great outlet in terms of female athletes, here at Exeter, we encourage every single one of our sports to have that social and that competitive offering. So, I think in universities, sport can be such an outlet from the intensity of studies. Sport then becomes somewhere to let off steam, somewhere to meet mates. Your sport – for me anyway, becomes your family. Especially females supporting females as well in that environment.
What message would you like to share with women at Exeter who may feel hesitant about getting involved in sports or fitness?
I would say that there are so many opportunities! Take the first step… it is so scary but if you can just grab a mate and go along to a Pitch up and Play session or go to a Club Open session, every single one of our female clubs would love to see it and would love to have you there.
Like I said, it’s about getting over that initial scare because of course the unknown is scary right? University is scary in general, but trying something new and trying something different is what the experience is all about! So, let’s encourage each other to do it and be healthy and feel the benefits of that both mentally and physically.
How have you ensured that the campaign reaches women of all backgrounds, abilities, and fitness levels – making sport truly inclusive?
With our campaign, we tried to target our sports clubs but also targeted those who may have only tried a few Pitch Up and Play sessions. These will often be people who don’t play regularly and aren’t part of an Athletic Union (AU) club. Also, through Guild promotion as well, tapping into those societies. For example, upon reflection looking at it in retrospect, I maybe could’ve reached out to societies like LGBTQ+ and collaborated there. Certainly, I think intersectionality is a big part of it. Now looking forward, next year, building on the campaign, how can I continue to improve participation?
Do you think being part of such a sport-focused university makes it easier or harder to encourage female participation, especially for those who don’t see themselves as ‘sporty’?
The Exeter culture around sport and ‘Bleed Green’ is a huge part of the university. I’ve spoken before about the fact that it can seem daunting and scary. But I think once you pick a sport, for example Women’s Football… Yes, we have loads of different BUCS teams, yes, we compete regularly in competitive football but once you go in and actually explore the opportunities that we have – away from these Wednesday afternoons – there are so many opportunities.
Sport is often viewed as just something for a certain type of person but there are so many other channels to follow, most of our clubs have an open session every week, solely designed for beginners. In Women’s Football we have a Development Officer, and she runs our weekly session for people who have literally never kicked a ball before.
Relating back to this idea of ‘visibility’, we need to make people aware of what these clubs are doing, how do we get that out there? Showing people – not necessarily apart of the sporting population at Exeter – that there’s something for you!
Looking ahead, how do you plan to keep the momentum going beyond this campaign – ensuring female participation in sport remains a priority at Exeter? And how can the wider Exeter community support the goals of “This Girl Can”?
I think the continued relationship with female only clubs, coming from a female only club and club captaining that for a year helped me understand that it is about that constant check in, that constant “how’s everything going?” or “can we ‘spotlight’ you on our Instagram?”. This year I’ve really tried to improve the visibility of our cubs in general through the Exeter Sport President Account; celebrating our female athletes through ‘spotlight interviews’ and ‘club takeovers’ and just getting the information out there, supporting clubs on that front to reach more people is so important.
In regard to wider university, I think looking beyond all 52 AU clubs, let’s think about how we can incorporate the likes of Body Society, Yoga Society and some of those Guild societies that probably have a huge female participation, how we can tap them into Exeter sport and make that link and that bridge.
