As the only female playing in male-dominated cricket sides growing up, Kirsten Smith often heard disparaging comments regarding teammates "throwing like a girl".
Ironically, she had one of the best arms in a lot of her teams.
Now, as program co-ordinator for the revolutionary Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered football program, Smith has found it extremely satisfying to see the reactions of young girls put in similar scenarios.
"The program is a lot about empowerment," Smith said.
"We have the three goals of empowerment - bravery, resilience and persistence - and one thing that really stood out for me as a 23-year-old was hearing the facilitators ask, 'If someone said to you, you kick like a girl, how would you respond to that?'.
"One of the girls put her hand up and said, 'Thanks for telling me I can kick really far'. That's awesome for primary age girls to have that awareness now and not think that being told you run like a girl or kick like a girl is necessarily a bad thing."
Smith is co-ordinating four nine-week football-specific versions of the University of Newcastle's boundary-breaking Daughters and Dads program. Each weekly session is 90 minutes.
The program, in its pilot phase this term, targets fathers or father figures as the agents of change to improve their primary-school aged daughters' physical activity levels, sport skills and social-emotional well-being.
It is being funded under the NSW Football Legacy Plan and the response has been strong with all four venues this term - Speers Point, Coffs Harbour, Lindfield and Glenwood - reaching capacity.
The program aims to break down the barriers that impact girls' motivation to participate in sport with a long-term view of increasing female representation in football.
Dads and Daughters Football will launch in term one next year with programs locked in at Swansea Public School (Monday evenings) and Kotara South Public School (Saturday mornings).
"The main aim is so much more than just a typical football program," University of Newcastle's Daughters and Dads Football program researcher Dr Lee Ashton said.
"We're looking to break down those barriers that girls face and address those gender biases and stereotypes that exist in sport, in community, every day in society for girls.
"Some research showed that by age 14 there was an 81 per cent drop out by girls in sport and they don't return ... but hopefully by removing barriers early on and providing them with that skill set will enable lifelong involvement in the sport."
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