How Playing Sports Helps Girls Become Leaders, Executives, and High Achievers

For decades, parents have encouraged their daughters to participate in sports because of the physical and social benefits. Increasingly, however, research suggests that the impact of sports extends far beyond the playing field. Girls who participate in sports are more likely to develop leadership skills, pursue higher levels of education, earn higher incomes, and attain executive leadership positions later in life. While sports alone do not guarantee success, evidence indicates that athletic participation helps cultivate many of the competencies associated with professional achievement.

The Leadership Advantage

One of the strongest links between youth sports and later success is leadership development. Sports require athletes to communicate effectively, work within teams, handle setbacks, make decisions under pressure, and persevere through challenges. These experiences mirror many of the demands faced by leaders in business and other professions.

One of the most compelling studies linking sports participation to professional success was the report Making the Connection: Women, Sport and Leadership (2014), commissioned by Ernst & Young's (EY) Women Athletes Business Network and espnW. Conducted by Longitude Research, the study surveyed 400 female executives across Europe, the Americas, and the Asia-Pacific region, with the largest responses coming from Brazil, Canada, China, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The findings revealed a striking connection between athletic participation and leadership achievement. Among women serving in C-suite executive positions, 94% reported having played sports at some point in their lives. Furthermore, 74% believed that a background in sports helped accelerate women's leadership and career potential, while 61% said their sports experience directly contributed to their professional success. The study concluded that participation in sports helps develop many of the qualities associated with effective leadership, including confidence, resilience, teamwork, discipline, and the ability to perform under pressure. (ESPN Press Room U.S.)

The same study found that women executives who played sports often credited athletics with developing qualities such as discipline, resilience, teamwork, and competitiveness—traits consistently associated with successful leadership. (ESPN Press Room U.S.)

Sports Build Transferable Workplace Skills

Employers increasingly value "soft skills" such as communication, collaboration, adaptability, and problem-solving. Sports provide a practical environment for developing these abilities from an early age.

Participation in team sports requires athletes to:

• Work toward collective goals

• Accept feedback from coaches and teammates

• Manage success and failure constructively

• Develop confidence and self-discipline

• Navigate interpersonal dynamics

  
  

The Women's Sports Foundation and Project Play have highlighted evidence showing that sports participation positively affects leadership development, self-esteem, confidence, and personal growth among youth. (ESPN)

More recent research involving NCAA athletes found that sports participation continues to serve as a valuable environment for leadership development, helping athletes build competencies that are applicable far beyond athletics. (Journals at KU)

Why So Many Female Executives Played Sports

The relationship between sports and executive leadership appears especially strong among women.

The EY/espnW study found that women in the C-suite were more likely than other managers to have participated in sports at higher levels of competition. Among surveyed executives, 52% of C-suite leaders had played sports at the university level, compared with 39% of women in other management positions. Furthermore, only 3% of C-suite women reported never having played sports. (ESPN Press Room U.S.)

Researchers suggest several reasons for this pattern:

1. Confidence Development – Sports provide repeated opportunities to perform under pressure and build self-belief.

2. Resilience Training – Athletes learn to recover from losses, mistakes, and setbacks.

3. Competitive Experience – Sports normalize competition and achievement-oriented environments.

4. Leadership Opportunities – Team captains and veteran players often gain early leadership experience.

5. Goal Setting – Athletes regularly establish, pursue, and evaluate measurable goals.

These experiences can prepare girls and young women for leadership roles in business, government, education, healthcare, and other fields.

Educational Benefits That Influence Career Success

Professional success often begins with educational achievement, and sports participation appears to support academic outcomes as well.

Research cited by the Women's Sports Foundation indicates that physically active students tend to achieve higher test scores and are more likely to attend college than their less-active peers. Participation in sports has also been linked to improved concentration, attention, and classroom behavior. (ESPN)

These academic advantages can contribute to higher educational attainment, which in turn increases access to professional and executive career opportunities.

Higher Earnings and Career Outcomes

Multiple studies have found associations between sports participation and increased earning potential.

Research highlighted by Forbes noted that women who participate in sports are more likely to graduate from high school, earn advanced degrees, and achieve higher incomes. The same reporting connected sports participation with increased likelihood of reaching executive leadership positions. (Forbes)

More recently, a large UK study reported that girls who participated in after-school sports were approximately 50% more likely to attain senior professional or leadership positions later in life. Researchers attributed this advantage to characteristics fostered through sports, including confidence, resilience, adaptability, and the ability to perform under pressure. (The Guardian)

While correlation does not necessarily imply causation, the consistency of these findings across different countries and populations suggests that sports participation may play a meaningful role in career development.

The Long-Term Leadership Pipeline

The Women's Sports Foundation's "Play to Lead" research found that women who participated in sports often credited those experiences with helping them develop leadership skills that lasted into adulthood. Participants identified teamwork, confidence, communication, and problem-solving as key competencies learned through athletics. The study also found that girls who remained involved in sports for longer periods were more likely to become leaders later in life. (Parents)

This finding is important because leadership development is not typically the result of a single experience. Rather, it emerges from years of practice, mentorship, challenge, and growth—conditions that sports naturally provide.

Beyond Business: Success in Many Fields

Although much attention focuses on corporate leadership, the benefits of sports extend to numerous professional fields. Former athletes are represented among physicians, attorneys, educators, entrepreneurs, military officers, scientists, and public officials.

The common thread is not athletic ability itself, but the habits and characteristics that sports help develop:

• Persistence

• Accountability

• Time management

• Self-confidence

• Teamwork

• Leadership

• Adaptability

These traits are valuable in virtually every profession.

Conclusion

Playing sports does not guarantee that a girl will become a CEO, executive, or high-income professional. However, a growing body of research suggests that sports participation provides an environment where girls develop many of the skills associated with long-term success.

From leadership and confidence to resilience and teamwork, athletics offers lessons that often transfer directly into educational achievement and professional advancement. The fact that 94% of surveyed female executives played sports is striking, but perhaps not surprising. Sports teach girls how to compete, collaborate, lead, and persevere—qualities that remain valuable long after the final whistle. (ESPN Press Room U.S.)

References

1. EY Women Athletes Business Network & espnW. Making the Connection: Women, Sport and Leadership (2014). (ESPN Press Room U.S.)

2. ESPN. Leadership Through Sports (2022). (ESPN)

3. Jolly, K., Simms, J., Corr, C., Stokowski, S., & Paule-Koba, A. Driven To Lead: Gendered Differences in Leadership Competencies Among NCAA Athletes (2025). (Journals at KU)

4. Evans, A. B., & Pfister, G. Women in Sports Leadership: A Systematic Narrative Review (2020). (Sage Journals)

5. Glass, A. Ernst & Young Studies the Connection Between Female Executives and Sports, Forbes (2013). (Forbes)

6. Women's Sports Foundation. Play to Lead: The Generational Impact of Sport on Women's Leadership (reported 2024). (Parents)

7. Public First / Sky. Game Changing: How Sport Gives Every Girl a Better Chance (2025). (The Guardian)