The Athlete Role Model Paradigm: Rethinking How We ‘Inspire’ Girls in Sport

Background
Athlete role models are everywhere in modern sport, from billboards and social media to school visits and national campaigns. They are often celebrated as powerful agents of change, capable of inspiring the next generation to dream big and stay active. Yet beneath this optimism lies a complex reality: inspiration alone rarely leads to participation.

My experiences as a camogie player, coach, and educator shaped my curiosity about this issue. Growing up, I looked up to elite female athletes, yet their visibility often felt fleeting, overshadowed by structural barriers, limited media coverage, and inequality. I began to question how, and under what conditions, athlete role models truly influence young people, particularly girls.

This curiosity led to my PhD at TUS: “The Position and Influence of Elite Athlete Role Models in Sport and Physical Activity Across the Island of Ireland.” My research explored how elite athletes function as role models, how adolescents experience them, and how sport organisations can translate role model potential into participation outcomes.

The Challenge: From Belief to Behaviour
The idea that “you can’t be what you can’t see” is central to sport policy, but visibility alone doesn’t guarantee engagement. My research showed that while most adolescents find elite athletes inspiring, belief doesn’t automatically lead to behaviour. This disconnect, what I call the inspiration gap, reflects the mismatch between symbolic visibility (seeing success from afar) and relational influence (feeling personally connected to that success). Gaelic games offer a unique lens: the local and attainable nature of elite female athletes can have a genuine impact on young girls’ motivation and sport participation. Yet this occurs only when certain mechanisms are present. For many girls, elite athletes represent what is possible, but not always what feels achievable within their own sporting realities.

Research Approach
To unpack this paradox, I used a mixed-methods design:

  • Quantitative analysis of over 5,000 adolescents from the Children’s Sport Participation and Physical Activity (CSPPA) Study 2022 to identify who young people choose as sporting role models and whether these choices relate to participation levels.
  • Qualitative inquiry with adolescents, elite female athletes, and sport leaders to understand the meanings and cultural contexts of role modelling in Irish sport.

The research drew on social learning and motivational theories to connect individual mechanisms of influence with broader systemic factors shaping policy and practice.

Insights: Relatability, Attainability, and Accessibility
Three interconnected mechanisms explained when and how athlete role models inspire meaningful engagement among young girls:

  1. Relatability: Young people were most influenced by athletes who felt “like me”, those who shared their background, values, or struggles.
  2. Attainability: Athlete role models who seemed reachable through realistic pathways, rather than distant elites, fostered stronger motivation and belief.
  3. Accessibility: Genuine interaction mattered. Meeting, seeing or knowing an athlete through schools, community events, personal connection, or social media-built trust and identification.

Together, these mechanisms show that the power of role modelling lies not in celebrity but in authenticity and connection.

The Systemic Gap

A workshop with sport leaders revealed strong belief in the value of athlete role models but limited capacity to use them effectively. Many campaigns focus on visibility rather than sustained engagement or measurable outcomes. This reflects a broader know–do gap—the space between knowing that role models matter and knowing how to use them meaningfully. Leaders highlighted the need for frameworks, training, and evidence-based strategies to support athlete engagement beyond symbolic appearances.

Translating Research into Practice

If there were to be one more study in this PhD, it would pilot a role modelling intervention designed to test these mechanisms, relatability, attainability, and accessibility, within a specific sport or school context. It would explore what actually changes when a young person has a role model, and what purposes athletes serve: inspiration, behavioural example, or representation of possibility.

As part of this longer-term ambition, I am collaborating with Sport Ireland’s Dare to Believe Olympic Schools Programme, which connects elite athletes with schools nationwide through storytelling, workshops, and digital engagement. Our evaluation examines not just reach but impact, how athlete visits influence motivation, confidence, and belonging, and aims to inform future athlete role model initiatives.

The emphasis is shifting from “role model as inspiration” to “role model as educator, storyteller, and connector.” By capturing authentic athlete narratives, we can move beyond one-off visits toward sustained, relational influence that bridges research, policy, and practice.

Key Takeaways

  1. From Symbol to System: Female athlete role models alone cannot solve participation disparities; they must be part of broader, systemic strategies addressing visibility, opportunity, and equity.
  2. Authenticity Over Aspiration: The most effective role models are not always the most successful, but those perceived as local, relevant/similar, accessible and attainable (successful).
  3. Bridging the Inspiration Gap: Research must be embedded at policy levels, future studies should test role model mechanisms and theoretical frameworks and embed longitudinal analysis.
  4. Translate Knowledge, Not Just Messages: Bridging the research–practice gap requires co-designing programmes, stories, and digital tools that resonate with youth experiences.
  5. Context Matters: In community-based systems like Gaelic games, proximity and shared identity are powerful levers for participation but must be backed by equitable structures for women’s sport.

Dissemination Examples 

Biography

Dr. Eimear Kelly is an Impact Executive with The Shona Project and a member of the SHE Research Group at Technological University of the Shannon (TUS). Eimear has previously taught at second and third level across physical education, sport pedagogy and coaching science modules. Her PhD, “The Position and Influence of Elite Athlete Role Models in Sport and Physical Activity Across the Island of Ireland,” explored how relatability, attainability, and accessibility shape the influence of athlete role models on adolescent sport participation. Eimear’s work aims to bridge research, education, and practice across gender equity, youth participation, and programme evaluation. She leads impact measurement across The Shona Project’s national initiatives and collaborates with Sport Ireland’s Dare to Believe Programme to enhance athlete influence and engagement in schools.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eimear-kelly-378206174/

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