Table 3 Body confident athletes intervention sessions, underpinning theories, learning objectives, and learning experiences

Body Talk in Sport

1. Body Talk [36]: Body talk is a form of dialogue that reinforces harmful gender stereotypes, appearance and athletic ideals within sport, and society more broadly.

2. Tripartite Influence Model of Body Image [24]: Body talk between friends, teams, families, and in the media (e.g., social media comments) reinforces harmful gender stereotypes and appearance and athletic ideals.

3. Cognitive Dissonance [27]: There are individual and societal costs and consequences to engaging in body talk. Cognitive dissonance strategies help to challenge body talk and reduce these costs.

This session sets the scene for athletes by introducing them to body talk, and how these conversations can reinforce harmful gender stereotypes and appearance and athletic ideals, and negatively impact girls’ sport experiences.

1. Understand what is meant by body talk, who engages in it and where.

2. Recognise the negative impact that body talk can have on athletes’ body image and sport experiences.

3. Develop strategies for challenging body talk and creating a Body Talk Free Zone.

1. The Game Plan: Introduce the programme and outline session one.

2. The Knowledge: Through group discussion, introduce the concept of body talk, where it occurs and its impact on girls’ body image and sport experiences.

3. The Skills: In small groups, brainstorm counteractive responses (“comeback challenges”) for body talk statements.

4. The Final Score: Finish the session with a recap of learnings, a weekly homework task (i.e., identify and challenge body talk), and a body connection activity, the “Three-Step Sense Check”.

What Our Bodies Experience in Sport

1. Agency and Functionality [15]; Body Functionality [25]; Body Appreciation [37]: Recognise, accept, and appreciate what the body can experience, and perhaps do differently to others in sport, including: physical capacities (e.g., outrun an opponent), internal processes (e.g., heal from an injury), bodily senses and perceptions (e.g., reflexes), creative endeavours (e.g., self-expression through dance), communication (e.g., celebrating a team member’s goal), and self-care (e.g., mood regulation).

In session two, athletes learn how to focus on and accept what their bodies can do and experience during sport, rather than on what it looks like. By shifting their focus, athletes are more likely to accept and appreciate their different abilities and be in tune with what their body needs when playing sport.

1. Recognise the difference between focusing on what their body can experience vs. what their body looks like when playing sport.

2. Understand how this way of thinking improves their body image and sport experiences.

3. Develop strategies to improve their awareness and gratitude for what their body can do and experience.

1. The Game Plan: Recap session one, homework check-in (e.g., did athletes challenge body talk?), and introduce session two.

2. The Knowledge: Through group discussion, introduce the concept of body functionality (e.g., recognising, accepting, and appreciating what the body can do and experience, beyond what it looks like)

3. The Skills: In an individual writing task, focus on what the body can do and experience when playing sports and why this is important to the athlete. Sometimes this might mean focusing on what our bodies do differently to others.

4. The Final Score: Finish the session with a recap of learnings, a weekly homework task (i.e., practise the writing task), and a body connection activity, the “Three-Step Sense Check”.

Listening to Our Bodies in Sport

1. Attuned Exercise [26]:

Moving the body in ways that promote mindfulness, body connection, body responsiveness, self-compassion, self-acceptance, and joy. In feeling physically and psychologically safe (i.e., the movement does not harm the body), individuals can focus on becoming more aware, connected, and responsive to their body and come to experience joy through sport.

2. Body Connection and Comfort [15]: Reflect on the quality of the connection with the body and the degree of comfort in the body when playing sport. This includes engaging in constructive self-talk.

To finish the programme, athletes learn the importance of listening to their bodies, as well as the potential consequences of not listening to them. Athletes engage in a practical task, where they practise listening to their body’s sensations and if necessary, responding to these sensations to meet the body’s needs

1. Identify the type of sensations our bodies experience and why.

2. Understand the importance of listening and attending to our bodies’ needs.

3. Develop strategies that help us to connect with our bodies and if necessary, respond to these sensations to meet the body’s needs.

1. The Game Plan: Recap session two, homework check-in (e.g., did athletes practise the writing tasks?), and introduce session three.

2. The Knowledge: Through group discussion, athletes explore different bodily sensations, and the benefits of, and/or consequences of not, listening to these sensations while playing sport.

3. The Skills: In an individual movement task (e.g., shooting on goal; practising a ball trick), athletes practise listening to and attending to their bodies’ sensations.

4. The Final Score: Finish the programme with a recap of learnings and a body connection activity, the “Three-Step Sense Check”.

Gender Stereotypes in Sport (booster session one)

1. Tripartite Influence Model of Body Image [24]: Understand and identify how society (family, friends, the media) create and perpetuate harmful stereotypes about girls and women in sport.

2. Cognitive Dissonance [27]: Understand and identify the costs that these stereotypes have on girls and women, and their participation in sport.

3. Body Appreciation [37] and Resisting Objectification [15]: By creating more realistic and inclusive ideas of beauty and athleticism, as well as appreciating our bodies for what they can do, we protect ourselves by rejecting unrealistic appearance ideals.

If teams have capacity for delivering 3 + sessions, Gender Stereotypes in Sport can be delivered as the first session of the programme (i.e., before Body Talk in Sport). Athletes explore how female athletes’ bodies are represented in society (i.e., through language and images), and how these representations reinforce harmful gender stereotypes, appearance, and athletic ideals.

1. Understand society’s role in reinforcing potentially harmful gender stereotypes for girls, women, and gender diverse people in sport

2. Identify the costs that these stereotypes have on people and their engagement in sport.

3. Develop strategies for challenging these stereotypes.

1. The Game Plan: Introduce the programme and outline session one.

2. The Knowledge: Through group discussion, introduce gender stereotypes in sport and how these can be harmful to girls’ body image and sport experiences.

3. The Skills: Brainstorm ways to challenge stereotypes during a paired movement activity (e.g., Every time you execute a simple skill from your sport [catch and throw in lacrosse], you need to come up with a new way to challenge gender stereotypes).

4. The Final Score: Finish the session with a recap of learnings, a weekly homework task (i.e., challenge gender stereotypes in sport), and a body connection activity, the “Three-Step Sense Check”.

Advocacy in Sport (booster session two)

1. Cognitive Dissonance [27]:

Taking individual and group action that challenge harmful societal attitudes and behaviours that perpetuate inequalities for girls and women in sport, in particular gender stereotypes, and appearance and athletic ideals.

2. Socioecological Model for Addressing Girls’ Body Image in Sport [2]: To create equitable sport environments that allow girls and women to reach their full potential, social changes need to occur across all levels of society, including individual, interpersonal, organisational/ environmental, and societal.

If teams have capacity for delivering 3 + sessions, Advocacy in Sport can be delivered as the last session of the programme (i.e., after Listening to Our Bodies in Sport). Athletes learn to use their new knowledge and skills to advocate for change in girls' and women's sport. Change will centre around body image-related issues; however, advocacy skills learned in this session can be extended to other sport experiences or girls' and women's  rights more broadly

1. Identify the body image-related challenges and inequalities that girls and women may face in sport.

2. Understand how these challenges and inequalities can negatively impact the future of girls’ and women’s sport.

3. Develop advocacy strategies for addressing these inequalities as an individual and community.

1. The Game Plan: Recap the previous session, homework check-in (e.g., did athletes practise the movement activity?), and introduce the session.

2. The Knowledge: Through group discussion, discuss the body image-related challenges and inequalities that girls and women may face in sport and how these impact the future of girls’ and women’s sport.

3. The Skills: In small groups, brainstorm ways to overcome these inequalities across different levels of the sport ecosystem (e.g., individuals, communities, organisations, government).

4. The Final Score: Finish the programme with a recap of learnings and a body connection activity, the “Three-Step Sense Check”.