I can still vividly recall the joyless occasion that was PE at school… four a side on the tennis courts, freezing on the hockey pitch with zero feedback or encouragement…being passed over in team selection – so I’m not surprised to read that researchers from the University of Alberta have found that negative early experiences of physical activity can put girls off for life. I was lucky – I discovered aerobics in the early 1990s (thank you, Jane Fonda!) which led me to fall in love with exercise as a late teenager/early adult and reap the many benefits of becoming active. But many other girls – having endured criticism, humiliation, excessive pressure, or even simply having been ignored in PE – spend their whole lives devoid of the pleasure of exercise. Don’t let this happen to your children, grandchildren, nieces or pupils – help girls enjoy positive experiences of physical activity (even if this means outside of school hours) and you’ll be setting them up for life.