GET red-faced, sweaty and jiggly: Ballarat women have turned out to celebrate what their bodies can do while trying new ways to be physically active.
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A Sports Central-hosted come-and-try event on Monday evening was all about kicking down stereotypes and barriers to working out as part of the inaugural VicHealth This Girl Can Week.
Sport Central's Letesha Stephens said it was positive to see so many women and girls having a go and being active.
"It is a movement towards the future. We need more options in sport," she said.
"Traditional sports are good but we need options for people they don't appeal to and for women to know they can find something that fits them."
Women and girls had a go at social sixes cricket, soccer, AFL and touch rugby at the event on Monday night.
New VicHealth research reiterates the devastating impact of women's fear of being judged while exercising. One in two Victorian women aged 18 to 65 have experienced heckling and shame and, as a result, became too self-conscious when working out.
Traditional sports are good but we need options for people they don't appeal to and for women to know they can find something that fits them.
- Letesha Stephens, Sports Central
Mum guilt, sexualisation, gossip and cliques in classes and social media were other key barriers for women, who withdrew from exercise or did not start.
This Girl Can is built on the highly successful Sport England campaign and has inspired more than 185,000 Victoria women to get active in its first year.
Ballarat women are moving less than the average Victorian woman, with about seven in 10 Ballarat women failing to move for 30 minutes at least five days a week.
You can contact Sports Central to help find your pathway into sport.
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