Triad Woman Leads Camp Empowering Girls Through Movement and Self-Esteem

Active Girls-Healthy Girls camp in Greensboro aims to close the gender gap in physical activity and build confidence in young girls.

Apr. 14, 2026 at 9:50pm

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A brightly colored, high-contrast silkscreen print of a young girl's smiling face, repeated in a tight grid pattern, conceptually representing the joy and confidence instilled by the Active Girls-Healthy Girls camp.A celebratory illustration capturing the confident and empowered spirit of the Active Girls-Healthy Girls camp for young girls in Greensboro.Greensboro Today

The Active Girls-Healthy Girls camp, led by the Center for Women's Health and Wellness at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, is providing a free three-day spring break program for Guilford County girls in 4th through 6th grades. The camp focuses on promoting joyful movement, building self-esteem, and addressing the decline in physical activity levels that often occurs in pre-teen girls.

Why it matters

The camp aims to address the gender gap in recreational sports opportunities for girls in the Greensboro area, providing a fun and supportive environment for them to explore different forms of physical activity. By targeting this critical age range when girls' activity levels tend to drop off, the program hopes to instill confidence and a lifelong love of movement.

The details

The camp has grown from a two-day program for 40 girls in its first year to a three-day camp with 80 participants this year. Activities include flag football, swimming, and lessons on body image and self-esteem. Organizers say the girls start out nervous on the first day but are having a great time by the third day as they get to know the counselors and each other. Moving forward, the program has received a grant to partner with Greensboro Parks and Recreation to develop an after-school component.

  • The first Active Girls-Healthy Girls Spring Break camp was held in 2024.
  • The 2026 camp took place during Guilford County's spring break.

The players

Jaclyn Maher

Program Director of Active Girls-Healthy Girls at the Center for Women's Health and Wellness at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

Maslyn Behler

Program Coordinator of Active Girls-Healthy Girls.

Kennedy

A third-year participant in the Active Girls-Healthy Girls camp.

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What they’re saying

“There are different opportunities in Greensboro and Guilford County for recreation sports but they're much more limited for girls.”

— Jaclyn Maher, Program Director, Active Girls-Healthy Girls

“I think it's better because it's not like you're competing with each other like boys. They're mostly really competitive, like, 'Oh, I'm going to beat you and stuff. It's really nice to just have fun with the sport.”

— Kennedy, Third-year camp participant

“We had a lesson about body image, and it showed us how to take care of our bodies and how to respect other people's bodies as we can respect ours too.”

— Kennedy, Third-year camp participant

What’s next

Organizers have received a grant to partner with Greensboro Parks and Recreation to develop an Active Girls-Healthy Girls supplement to its after-school program next year.

The takeaway

By providing a supportive, non-competitive environment for girls to explore different forms of physical activity, the Active Girls-Healthy Girls camp aims to build confidence, self-esteem, and a lifelong love of movement - helping to close the gender gap in recreational sports opportunities.