More Scots women in sport
Gavin Newlands, SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North and SNP Westminster Spokesperson for Sport, has welcomed new statistics which show that more women are getting involved in sport than ever before.
Figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) show that in the last four years, we have witnessed a 40% increase in the number of women across Scotland participating in basketball, football, hockey, aquatics, rugby and tennis.
Figures from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) reveal that 82% more women are playing in basketball clubs, 65% more in hockey clubs, 46% more in football clubs and 35% more women are playing rugby union.
This follows growing investment from the Scottish Government, including an additional £2 million this year and a 6.7% increase in sportscotland’s funding bringing the total to £31.7m in the 2018-19 budget. This investment will continue developing sport in Scotland and ensure the Commonwealth Games 2014 legacy is felt across Scotland.
Gavin Newlands, SNP MP for Paisley and Renfrewshire North, said:
“Sport is for everyone and it’s great to see more and more women in Scotland getting involved in sports.
“I suspect one of the reasons for this growth is due to the outstanding levels of success achieved by female sports stars like the Scottish women’s football team or Olympic athlete Eilidh Doyle. These role models, and others like them, help to encourage others to get involved in any number of sports.
“There is still more to do to enable more women to get involved in sport and hopefully we can build on these encouraging figures as we enter 2018.”
