Girls Only Basketball Project

Girls Only Basketball: Removing Barriers and Creating Opportunities for Girls. Funded by Sport England and National Lottery.

In summer 2024, Tigers In The Community (Tigers Basketball CIC) delivered Girls Only Basketball in Dartford, a targeted community project designed to address the underrepresentation of girls in sport and physical activity.

Despite strong demand locally, girls’ participation in basketball had remained low, with feedback from parents, schools and young people highlighting persistent barriers including confidence, cost and a lack of suitable girls-only provision. In response, Tigers In The Community developed a programme that provided girls aged 8–18 with a safe, welcoming and affordable space to be active, build confidence and connect with others.

The project was delivered over a 12-week period (July–September 2024) at Leigh Academy Dartford, with weekly 90-minute girls-only basketball sessions. Sessions were led by a Basketball England Level 2 qualified coach, supported by DBS-checked assistants, ensuring high-quality, inclusive and age-appropriate delivery throughout.

Across the delivery period, the programme:

• Engaged 48 individual girls, with an average weekly attendance of 32–36 participants
• Reached girls across multiple age groups, including those new to organised sport
• Achieved an estimated 75% retention rate, reflecting strong engagement and satisfaction
• Supported several participants who had previously dropped out of sport or never joined a club

A small pilot delivered prior to the project had already demonstrated demand for girls-only provision, with strong attendance and positive feedback from an initial group of participants. However, without external funding, venue and staffing costs made it difficult to scale the programme while keeping it affordable. Support through Sport England’s Movement Fund enabled Tigers In The Community to subsidise delivery and remove financial barriers, ensuring that cost was not a reason for exclusion.

Sessions were designed to balance skill development with fun, teamwork and confidence-building activities. Importantly, the girls-only environment played a key role in creating a space where participants felt comfortable, supported and able to take part at their own pace. Feedback from both participants and parents highlighted improvements in confidence, enjoyment and willingness to be active.

Beyond physical activity, the project supported wider outcomes linked to wellbeing and social connection. Girls formed new friendships, developed positive routines and, by the end of the programme, an estimated 70% of regular attendees expressed an interest in continuing with basketball or other forms of regular physical activity.

At the time of delivery, Tigers In The Community was one of the only organisations locally offering a dedicated girls-only basketball programme, addressing a clear gap in provision. The project demonstrated that targeted, inclusive delivery can successfully engage girls who are traditionally underrepresented in sport.

Girls Only Basketball in Dartford has since informed the organisation’s ongoing approach to women and girls’ provision, providing a strong, replicable model for future delivery and reinforcing the value of investment in inclusive, community-led sport programmes.

Crucially, the success of the Girls Only Basketball in Dartford project created a clear and lasting legacy. As a direct result of the programme, Bexley Tigers Basketball Club has since established a formal girls’ pathway, with teams now progressing to compete in the National Basketball League. The project also highlighted a significant unmet need for girls’ provision in the London Borough of Bexley, with a substantial proportion of participants regularly travelling from Bexley to attend sessions in Dartford. This demand, alongside wider considerations such as access to facilities and long-term sustainability, informed the strategic decision to permanently relocate the organisation’s community and club delivery to Bexley. This move has enabled Tigers In The Community to better serve local need, strengthen school and community partnerships, and embed girls’ provision at the heart of its long-term development model.