Identifying Best Practice in Girls Fives
Natalie Lilienthal reports:
05/11/25: Why don’t more girls play Eton Fives and how can we change that?
Taking a grassroots approach, the EFA set out to understand why there seems to be lower uptake and retention of Fives by girls relative to boys at the 29 schools where girls have access to courts. The aim was to reveal what best practices encourage more girls to play, and examples were drawn from the collective experience of past and present MICs, coaches, volunteers and female players in different school settings over many years.
Analysis of this wealth of experience shows that there is no single model for success. What works well in one setting or at one time has not worked at all in other places/times, or looks very different to other success stories. In part this is due to the wide range of school settings within which Fives takes place, encompassing boarding and day pupils, independent and state schools, co-ed and single sex, prep age to 6th form intakes, and Fives as a once-a-week club option to a regular sport rotation in the PE curriculum. Many of the factors that influence the uptake of Fives and retention of players longer-term are not gender-specific and often link to the more general context of the health of Fives overall. Yet there is still a participation gap between the numbers of girls and boys playing Fives in the UK, with girls remaining underrepresented. Girls make up approximately one third of the potential Fives-playing school population yet less than a quarter of pairs in national competitions are female, with fixtures and opportunities scarcer than for boys. This pattern is followed through to the adult game, with significantly fewer women playing at both club and tournament levels than men.
At school level, structural barriers including later entry points (e.g. 6th form), court access issues, fixture scarcity, lack of visibility, and timetabling clashes with other girls’ sports, reduce participation. By sharing these learnings the EFA hopes that schools can see what works elsewhere and apply ideas relevant to them to create more opportunities for girls to play Fives. A short checklist has been developed to support MICs looking to increase fives playing numbers of all genders and especially girls. Areas of focus include visibility and validation, social and community dynamics linked to identity, the importance of choice and plentiful opportunities, and the role of the coach and competitions. The EFA is considering next steps to take the outcomes of this research forward to support the development of the game for girls in Fives playing schools.
The full research report can be found HERE. For any queries please contact