Tennis ace Andy Murray’s mum Judy has called for a reinvention of PE in order to get more girls interested in sport.
One of the main changes she suggested was individual changing rooms, stating that it’ll help more body-conscious girls enjoy PE more. Speaking to *The Independent *she said: ‘The whole thing of doing PE at school and getting sweaty and not being able to shower afterwards, straighten your hair and put your full make-up back on can be quite traumatic for many teenagers.
‘We have to recognise that and maybe PE becomes a double period so that there’s time – and even things like separate shower cubicles, because girls don’t like getting changed in front of other people.’
It’s not just the changing rooms that’s holding girls back during physical education, though. According to Judy, the sports on the curriculum are less than inspiring (anyone who has done orienteering will attest to this).
‘Physical education in schools needs to have options away from the traditional sports like netball, hockey, cross-country and so forth – and look at things like Zumba and Pilates, things that are trendy,’ she says. Which we’re totally on board with. Zumba beats netball hands down.
‘It’s all about getting women active, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a sport or some kind of fun activity if you start to enjoy exercise.’
Genuinely, this is a genius idea and we should instigate it at the soonest possible opportunity. Individual changing rooms and zumba? Great. Only problem is money, sadly, and the fact that schools probably have a bit more to worry about financially before they start hiring zumba teachers and posho changing rooms. Which is a shame.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.