Girls in Sport Need More Than Role Models: What Organizational Staff Say About Mentoring’s Missing Structures

Hummell, C., & Bean, C. (2026). Mentoring for the positive youth development of girls in sport: Sport organization perspectives and practices. Youth, 6, 33. https://doi.org/10.3390/youth6010033

Introduction

In Canada, one million girls leave sport by adolescence, which is a dropout rate twice that of boys. Researchers and sport governing bodies increasingly point to mentorship as a retention strategy, yet almost no empirical work examines how Canadian sport organizations actually understand and deliver mentoring programs for girls. This study addresses that gap directly, centering the perspectives of organizational staff who run these programs daily.

Methods

Using a qualitative, interpretivist design informed by a critical feminist lens, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with nine staff members from eight Canadian sport organizations offering girl-focused mentoring programs. Interviews averaged 56 minutes and were conducted virtually via Microsoft Teams between May and July 2024. Document analysis of 20 program materials such guides, evaluation summaries, and program manuals supplemented the interview data. Reflexive thematic analysis guided by Braun and Clarke (2019) was applied to both data sources using NVivo 15.

Results

Three overarching themes emerged. First, staff understood mentorship as relational and developmental: centered on trust, belonging, and expanding girls’ sense of what is possible in sport. Second, program delivery was inconsistent: most programs lacked documented mentor screening, training protocols, and evaluation processes. Third, systemic barriers, particularly limited funding, staff capacity, and fragmented infrastructure, constrained program quality and reach. Notably, no program documents provided an explicit definition of mentorship, revealing a conceptual gap between what staff valued and what programs formally articulated.

Discussion

A central finding was the blurring of mentorship and role modelling. Staff understood the distinction, but program activities frequently centered on one-time interactions rather than sustained relationships. The authors situate this within persistent debates about definitional ambiguity in the mentoring literature and argue that without clarity, programs risk prioritizing visibility over genuine relationship-building.

Implications for Mentoring Programs

Sport organizations need sport-specific mentoring frameworks, structured mentor training, and long-term funding commitments. Equity-deserving girls require additional time and trust-building before program benefits materialize—short funding cycles actively undermine this process.

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