REPTON'S GIRLS' SPORT PROGRAMME FEATURED IN MUDDY STILETTOS 

 Repton is keeping girls in sport at a time when many give it up, and Muddy Stilettos has taken notice.

Repton's approach to girls' sport is the focus of a new feature from Muddy Stilettos Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire. It calls our programme "pioneering" for the way it takes female physiology into account, trains girls to an elite standard and gives them a wide range of sports to choose from.

The feature starts with a national problem: more than 1.3 million girls who loved sport at primary school drop out as teenagers. It then looks at why Repton's girls don't. Participation here has never fallen below 89%, and 93% of Lower Sixth girls are still taking part, at an age when numbers usually fall sharply.

Assistant Director of Sport Laura Turner and Head of Athletic Development Lizzy Butler-Clack talked to Muddy Stilettos about the thinking behind the programme. It includes:

• Plans to fit training around girls' cycles, with workshops for pupils and coaches
• Kit changes so girls feel confident, from dark colours to sports bra fittings for every new Year 9
• Weekly strength and conditioning from Year 9, to help prevent injuries
• Sport built into the school day, so girls don't have to choose between sport and studying
• A wide choice of sports, from elite hockey and swimming to yoga, dance and Futsal

"We make it an elite environment – even at recreational level – where academics and sport are built around the pupils so that they can do it all," Laura told Muddy Stilettos. "That's what needs to happen to keep girls in sport."

The feature also mentions the role models girls see every day. They include the ten pupils currently trialling for England hockey and Director of Hockey Erica Sanders, a former England player. It covers the pathway that starts at Repton Prep too, now supported by a new partnership with Nottingham Forest Netball.

From Prep to Sixth Form and role models on the pitch every day, Repton's girls aren't just staying in sport. They're setting the standard.

Find out more about sport at Repton

Read the full feature on Muddy Stilettos