Hockey and netball out of favour?

The Daily Mail reports that traditional sports such as hockey and netball are under threat as rising numbers of girls turn to football. They are taking up the sport at primary and secondary school and, for the first time, pursuing it at club level along with boys.

Experts point to the success of Bend It Like Beckham, the 2002 film starring Keira Knightley and Parminder Nagra, for the sport's increasing popularity among girls. It tells the story of an Asian girl's attempts to become a professional footballer despite her family's objections. The Football Association - which estimates around one million girls and 250,000 women play football regularly - claims the sport is becoming more accessible to girls and is also seen as more acceptable.

The study by ChildWise, a market research company, interviewed 1,200 pupils - boys and girls - aged between five and 16 to track trends in their behaviour. In a 2001-2 survey, girls were asked what sports they played at primary school. Twenty-five per cent said football, 23 per cent netball, 22 per cent hockey and 18 per cent swimming. By 2007-8, 32 per cent of girls at primary level said they played football at school, easily beating all other sports. Netball participation had slumped to 14 per cent and hockey had fallen to only 4 per cent.

Across all 591 primary and secondary schools, 30 per cent of girls play football, with participation peaking among nine and ten-year-olds. FA spokesman Alex Stone said: "There are more opportunities for girls to play than some of the England players experienced when they were growing up. It's grown from being seen as a niche sport played by a few to something that's much more popularist."

Rosemary Duff, of ChildWise, added: "Children know the names of footballers as it's very high profile. But can you name a famous netball player? Even hockey isn't the same. These sports don't have the same kind of glamour that football has."