Girls Just Wanna Have Fun: Evaluating the Processes and Impact of a Female Youth-Driven Physical Activity-Based Life Skills Program

Abstract

Physical activity programs are contexts that have the potential to foster adolescents’ development, yet researchers assert that the environment must be deliberately designed for this to occur (Danish et al., 2004). The Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (GJWHF) program was developed for this purpose and was implemented over the course of one year at a local Boys and Girls Club. The objective of this research project was to evaluate the GJWHF program as there is a dearth of evaluations of community-based programs (Salmon et al., 2007). Results identified successes, challenges, and practical recommendations for community programmers. Further, results found that GJWHF adhered to Petitpas et al.’s (2005) framework for planning youth sport programs that foster psychosocial development. Specifically, GJWHF was successful in providing a positive and supportive female-only environment for female youth that utilized positive leader support to foster the development of friendships and identity formation, and facilitate the development of a variety of life skills, including leadership and teamwork.