One in four women in Canada are not committed to returning to sports once the pandemic is over.

That according to new research from Canadian Women and Sport, E-Alliance, and Jumpstart Charities.

Renee Verge is a former coach at Peacock Collegiate. She says there are a number of barriers that could impact someone's decision to get involved again or to stay away. Those barriers include confidence, finances, or mental barriers.

"Athletes that are very athletic and highly skilled; they're chomping at the bit and can hardly wait to get back. It's your marginalized girls that enjoy sports and fitness, but maybe their confidence isn't quite there, there are some mental or social barriers to get through; those are the girls we really need to try and get back into sports as soon as possible."

Verge also mentioned the importance of school sports and how it often serves as an introduction for girls into the world of athletics. She says schools within Moose Jaw have already been discussing how to get kids in general back into sports, and that they are working on some strategies.

It's not just participation either, as Verge says there's not a lot of girls coaching right now either, and that's something else that starts with school sports.

She says this could lead to a lack of adult female coaches and advocates.

"The impact of kids not being involved could spiral very, very quickly, the timing is very important to get kids back into sports. Some girls don't want to be at that competitive level but they do want to be active, they want to be socially active with their friends, they want to be fit. We need to talk to girls and ask what they want to get back out of sports, I think that's an important piece here."

The pandemic changed most of our lives, including those who are no longer interested in sports. It caused kids to have more screen time, less social interactions and has impacted their mental health; all things that sports can fix.

Families, like most things, play a big role too says Verge. The pandemic slowed down a lot of very busy families who were once rushing from one activity to another. But with life slowing down, they're enjoying the slower pace lifestyle, as well as spending more time with family, which could lead parents to not getting their children involved in so many activities. She says there are both positives and negatives to that.

She says the solution is finding a balance between sports, mental/social wellbeing, and a family-centric lifestyle.