CEB Sant Jordi’s “Sigue Jugando” Project Wins Basket Girlz Award to Combat Female Basketball Dropout

In the world of youth sports, there is a quiet, persistent crisis that happens long before the bright lights of the professional arena. It is the “dropout cliff”—that precarious window during adolescence when young women leave competitive sports at a disproportionately higher rate than their male peers. It is a trend that drains talent from the game and robs athletes of the lifelong benefits of physical activity and mental resilience.

For CEB Sant Jordi, a historic club based in Rubí, Barcelona, this isn’t just a statistic; it is a challenge they are determined to solve. The club has recently been named the winner of the second edition of the Premios Endesa Basket Girlz for its innovative project, “Sigue Jugando” (Keep Playing). The initiative is designed specifically to stem the tide of female basketball abandonment during the teenage years by prioritizing the emotional and psychological well-being of its players.

Having spent over 15 years reporting from the NBA Finals and the Olympic Games, I have seen the pinnacle of athletic achievement. But the real battle for the future of the sport is fought at the grassroots level, in community gyms and local clubs. When a talented 14-year-old decides that the pressure or the social shift of adolescence is too much to handle, the sport loses more than just a player; it loses a potential leader.

A Targeted Approach to Athlete Retention

The “Sigue Jugando” project recognizes that the reasons girls leave sports are rarely about a lack of skill or passion. Instead, the departure is often driven by a complex mix of social pressure, changing body images and a lack of specialized emotional support during a volatile stage of human development.

By focusing on the psychological health of the athlete, CEB Sant Jordi is moving beyond the traditional “coach-as-mentor” model to implement a professionalized support system. The project aims to provide players with the tools to navigate the stressors of adolescence while maintaining their connection to the game.

Investing in Mental Health

The recognition from the Premios Endesa Basket Girlz comes with more than just a trophy. CEB Sant Jordi has been awarded a grant of 10,000 euros, a sum that the club intends to use strategically. Rather than spending the funds on equipment or facilities, the club is establishing a dedicated mental health department.

This new department will be tasked with accompanying players through their developmental journey, offering professional psychological support to ensure that the mental burden of competition and the challenges of growing up do not outweigh the joy of the sport. For a club in Rubí, this represents a significant leap forward in how youth basketball is managed in Spain, treating mental wellness as a core component of athletic performance rather than an afterthought.

For those unfamiliar with the landscape, the Premios Endesa Basket Girlz is an initiative aimed at promoting women’s basketball and supporting projects that create a positive impact on the growth of the game. By selecting “Sigue Jugando,” the organizers have signaled that the industry is shifting its focus from simply recruiting more girls to actually keeping them in the game.

The “Why” Behind the Dropout Rate

To understand why a project like “Sigue Jugando” is necessary, one must look at the broader trends in youth sports. Research consistently shows that girls drop out of sports at higher rates than boys during the transition to high school. The causes are multifaceted:

• Social Pressures: The shift in social dynamics during adolescence can make the commitment to a team feel isolating or contradictory to peer expectations.
• Psychological Stress: The pressure to perform, combined with the hormonal and emotional shifts of puberty, can lead to burnout.
• Lack of Representation: When young athletes don’t see clear pathways or supportive environments for women in sports, the incentive to persevere diminishes.

By creating a safety net of mental health professionals, CEB Sant Jordi is effectively building a bridge over this “dropout cliff.” They are acknowledging that for a teenage girl to remain a basketball player, she first needs to feel supported as a person.

What This Means for the Future of the Game

The success of this initiative in Barcelona could serve as a blueprint for other clubs across Europe and the Americas. If the “Sigue Jugando” model proves successful in reducing dropout rates, it provides a scalable argument for integrating sports psychology into every youth club, regardless of size.

From an editorial perspective at Archysport, we view this as a critical evolution. The growth of the WNBA and the surge in popularity of women’s European leagues are fantastic, but those professional tiers are only as strong as the youth pipelines feeding them. If we lose half our talent pool at age 15, we are capping the potential of the entire sport.

Key Takeaways from the CEB Sant Jordi Win

• Project Name: “Sigue Jugando” (Keep Playing).
• Primary Goal: Combat the abandonment of women’s basketball during adolescence.
• Financial Award: 10,000 euros from the II Edition of Premios Endesa Basket Girlz.
• Core Implementation: The creation of a specialized mental health department for players.
• Location: CEB Sant Jordi, Rubí (Barcelona), Spain.

The next step for CEB Sant Jordi will be the operational rollout of the mental health department. As the club begins to implement these services, the sports community will be watching closely to see how this psychological investment translates into player retention and on-court performance.

Do you think youth sports clubs should be required to provide mental health support for teenage athletes? Let us know in the comments below.