Report: Women’s pro sport drives interest for girls, not necessarily participation

CALGARY — The recent wave of women’s professional leagues and teams hitting Canada has piqued girls’ interest in sport, but a report says participation gaps still remain.

The 2026 Rally Report by Canadian Women and Sport found seven in 10 girls surveyed are fans of pro sports, and one in two say the arrival of the Professional Women’s Hockey League, soccer’s Northern Super League and the WNBA’s Toronto Tempo over the last three years has increased their enthusiasm for playing sport.

Girls’ participation in sport held steady since the last Rally Report in 2024, but six in 10 girls playing organized sport weekly remains lower than boys. By their late teens, nearly one in four girls quit organized sport.

“Four years ago, we didn’t have professional teams in leagues playing consistently in the Canadian market and now we do. Our thesis was this was going to have an impact on girls,” said Canadian Women and Sport chief executive officer Allison Sandmeyer-Graves.

“Girls are fans. Seven in 10 say that they’re fans of the sports and that is giving them access to role models; it’s giving them access to inspiration, to encouragement. Of course, it’s good for professional sports as well because they need fans. What I think is even more powerful is that one and two say that having the leagues in Canada is increasing their interest in playing.

“Professional sport is bringing something new and exciting and promising to the girls’ sport ecosystem, but we still have to do the work of supporting them to actually translate that into play.”

CWS first published the Rally Report in 2016 and has done so biennially since 2020. A survey of 4,500 Canadians aged six or older, including 1,960 girls aged 6 to 18 in 2026, provided data for the 2026 edition.

But for the first time, the Rally Report also sought direct input from focus groups of 18 girls aged 13 to 18 across Canada, and included their comments in the report.

“As soon as we went to high school, they only had one team for girls compared to two teams for boys. And many girls just believed they weren’t good enough to try out because there’s only 10-12 spots and probably 40 of us who want to try out,” said one 15-year-old.

The dropout rate of girls starting at age 16 creates a gender chasm of participation. The report found there was a 31 per cent difference between men and women in sport participation between the ages of 19 and 25.

Sandmeyer-Graves was also concerned to see a drop of five per cent in girls from lower-income households playing sport, and a decline in participation by both girls and boys aged 6-8, compared to 2024.

“There’s that larger story there around the affordability of sport and the affordability of life right now,” she said.

The report states that while four in five girls who play sport say their experience was positive, over half who left sport said they didn’t feel confident, supported or safe to participate.

“I’m so excited to see that four in five girls said they have a positive experience in sport,” Sandmeyer-Graves said.

“When you hear half of the girls who have left sport are saying that they didn’t feel confident, they didn’t feel safe, they didn’t feel supported, it points us to where we need to be paying attention. What aspects of the experience matter to girls and will really make a difference for getting them into sport and keeping them there?”

The sport system needs to capitalize on girls’ rising interest in sport, she said.

“We believe that the introduction of women’s professional sport isn’t just an addition to a landscape. It changes the landscape. It changes what is possible,” Sandmeyer-Graves said. “The whole ecosystem has to kind of work together in order to really reap the full potential of that.”

PWHL defender Renata Fast of the Toronto Sceptres says the annual summer hockey camp she hosts with Montreal Victoire forward Emma Maltais “has just completely exploded” with girls’ enrolment.

“Such a big component is that they see role models and they can dream, and whether it takes them far or whether it doesn’t, it doesn’t matter. It’s just as long as they’re enjoying it and playing for the love of it,” Fast said. “When you have role models, you stay in something longer.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2026.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press