Women & girls in sport 2026
With 13.8 million views, 150k posts and 4.5k threads in 2025, Mumsnet is where women are openly deciding what to do in sport and exercise
(Research published: March 2026)
In our Women & Girls in Sport insights for 2026, we discover:
Sport and exercise is already a major decision-making moment on Mumsnet, with 150k posts, 4.5k threads and 13.8m views showing women are openly deciding what to do in sport and exercise.
This is not about getting women started. Women are exercising more consistently than ever, and the bigger opportunity now is helping them stay that way, as practical barriers have overtaken motivational ones.
For mums, the biggest barriers are structural. Time is the biggest barrier standing between mums and exercise, with 66% citing time as their primary barrier and 59% saying they need structural change, not just motivation.
For girls, ages 9–14 are the make-or-break years. Our insights show that girls are not opting out of sport so much as being pushed out by the experience around it, including pressure, burnout, body image, puberty and friendship dynamics.
Mothers are the biggest driver of children’s participation in sport. 88% of children who play sport have a mum who also exercises, making mums the key audience in long-term participation decisions.
For brands, the opportunity is to show up with credible solutions that remove practical barriers - solving logistics, not selling aspiration, and helping turn existing interest in women’s sport into regular viewing and participation habits.
