About Us
OLD GIRLS PLAY TOO® OPERATES AS a community interest companY AND IS FILED UNDER COMPANIES HOUSE AS OLD GIRLS PLAY TOO CIC
Old Girls Play Too is a campaign not only to raise awareness that getting active at a later age is good for you but to redefine the narrative around older women 40+ belonging in sport. It will create a community of women 40+ to offer support, empowerment and encouragement to increase mental and physical wellbeing and reduce social isolation and loneliness. This campaign will help promote the benefits of regular activity, increase confidence and remove barriers, so that regardless of fitness and experience, women 40+ will see they can participate.
We will be running OGPT CLUB "Play & Stay" sessions, for different sports, to encourage participation for all women, especially those who haven't been active for a long time, as well as sharing information which we hope will improve wellbeing.
Our Story
After founding the Crawley Old Girls (COGS) in 2015 and the following years of helping to increase participation in women's recreational football around the country, Carol Bates has seen and spoken to so many women who have increased their mental health, physical wellbeing and increased their confidence through being able to play football in a safe, non-competitive, fun and non-judgemental space. Many women have also made new friends and enjoy more social activities.
But, if you are a woman 40+ and want to get active for the first time in years or have no fitness, where do you go to find out about playing recreational sport? Where do you find somewhere to get active at your own pace and feel comfortable while doing it? We want that place to be our OGPT Club "Play & Stay" recreational sport sessions.
We need to change the narrative around women in sport when it's reported that only 4% of women actually engage in team sport (Sport England Active Lives Data - November 2023/2024) and only 2.6% of women aged 55-64 (November 2024/2025).
WOMEN BELONG IN SPORT REGARDLESS OF LEVEL OF FITNESS, SHAPE, SIZE, ABILITY OR KNOWLEDGE OF THE SPORT THEY WANT TO PLAY.
