There are more than 8.5 million Italian women involved in sports: this number is increasing and is expected to increase further over time. It is interesting to find out which women’s sports are the most popular in Italy: let’s go and see.
Women’s sport is growing in Italy but there’s still much to do
The total number of Italian men and women playing sports is 20 million. This may seem like a high rate almost 30% of the total populationHowever, according to Eurostat data, Italy remains at the bottom of this statistic in Europe, only marginally ahead of Bulgaria, Greece, Romania and Poland. If we limit the findings to Italian women’s sports, the situation gets even worse: In fact, in our sports system, the proportion of women who regularly engage in sports remains at 18%.
It’s a sinking void Own roots in sociocultural context As evidenced by the lower percentages of female sports administrators in our country (only 15 in Italy), less than 20% of coaches, 12% of women holding management positions in sports federations, 18% of female referees. But while this may not be flattering, things are changing.
The sports most played by women in Italy
Women playing sports in Italy today 43.3% of the national total (this figure is higher than the 18% mentioned above because this statistic refers to activities of at least 150 minutes per week, but the reference is broader here) and if we include those who engage in some form of physical activity, the total number will reach almost 10 million.
Generally, In Italy, 60 percent of women do some form of exercise This can be considered a sport. The number of people who do not do sports for any reason is 12 million. So there are inevitably very strong geographical differences between these data (processed by Censis) that go far beyond the simple dynamics of physical and mental well-being.
In Italy, it is actually in the Centre-North, which is the regional macro region where women do the most sports (Trentino Alto Adige is ahead with 50% of female athletes). The relationship between sport and liberationwith the sporting activity that has become Tool to reduce the gap between men and womenespecially in the business world. The situation is the opposite in the South, where the percentage of women participating in sports has fallen (13.4% in Calabria, 17% in Sicily), women’s participation in working life has also fallen, and there is a much wider overall gap between women and social participation. basic mechanisms of social life.
The 6-14 age group is the age group with the most practitioners. 55.9 percent of girls do sports. While the lowest rate is inevitably seen in women over 75, it is interesting to note the 17 per cent of women aged 65 to 74 who continue to move, a respectable share overall.
Sports disciplines most practiced by women in Italy
Let’s start with football, the most practiced sport in Italy. Despite a significant increase in the number of players over the last five years, only 2% of the Italian football federation’s members are now women. These are out of 1 million athletes in fact, just over 20,000 are women.. In short, there is still a long way to go before Italian girls develop a passion for football, but it is worth emphasizing that the growth is still significant, considering that until 2003 there were not even 8,000 women playing football in Italy.
Gymnastics continues to be a favorite discipline for women playing sports in Italy. Dance, rhythmic exercises, but also yoga, pilates are simple tools in the context of caring for the health of one’s body. On the other hand, the context is also simpler: Training in the gym allows you to: Manage your family and work commitments in the best way possibleThis is a situation that, at least in Italy, is often more stressful for women than for men.
Among the sports most loved by Italian women, tennis is on the second step of the podium, ahead of gymnastics. The Italian tennis federation has more than four hundred thousand members. 33% of the grand total. Tennis is a sport that is growing year on year among girls, both because of the epic appeal of the stories it conveys (Serena Williams above all) and because of the mental, above all, physical benefits (especially in terms of muscle tone). . In fact, tennis increases concentration and control exponentially.
Finally, volleyball remains the queen of women’s sports in Italy. Volleyball, which is the second most played sport in our country, is played by 330,000 members in Italy. almost 80% are women. The combination of aerobic and anaerobic phases, the dynamics of socialization, the possibility of quickly understanding some technical information at a basic level that allows immediate play are the secret of this discipline loved by Italian women.
