ONE of my biggest regrets is giving up sport in my early teens, or rather tweens. I was 12 when I stopped doing gymnastics. I had already grown 10 centimetres (four inches) in a handful of months. The onset of puberty – and high school – was the final nail in the coffin.

I didn't feel confident in my own skin never mind strutting around in a leotard that accentuated every lump and bump. Few of my school friends did sport. I felt left out when classmates made plans to meet on evenings and weekends while I slunk off to training.

When the annual gymnastics club display rolled around I simply refused to go. My mother, who was on the committee, had to attend without me and explain away my absence.

If I could go back and tell my 12-year-old self anything it would be that those awkward feelings pass – and you will kick yourself for the rest of your life at walking away from something you love.

Worryingly this is a scenario that continues to ring true today. While historically the gender gap has focused around the tricky teenage years, according to recent figures from Women in Sport, girls start to drop out of sport and physical activity from as early as seven and at a faster rate than boys.

This is catastrophic. A lack of physical activity is detrimental for a raft of reasons from obesity to low self-esteem. It can affect a child's ability to learn and achieve their academic potential. In stark contrast, taking part in sport or regular exercise develops skills in organisation, teamwork and leadership.

For girls in particular, being physically active helps develop positive body image which is vital when 47 per cent of those aged between 11 and 16 admit to lacking confidence in their appearance.

The Active Schools Network, a partnership between sportscotland and all 32 local authorities, reported a 16.9 per cent rise in female participation between 2012/13 and 2013/14. It is hoped that when new figures are released next week this positive trend will continue.

Yet, girls still lag significantly behind boys in Scotland when it comes to the number regularly taking part in sport. What will it take to buck the trend?

Breaking down the enduring myths and misconceptions will be a start. Almost half of girls are said to perceive getting sweaty, dirty and messy during sport as "unfeminine".

I'm a huge fan of the This Girl Can campaign unveiled by Sport England earlier this year to encourage more women to take up exercise. "I swim because I love my body. Not because I hate it," is one slogan, while another reads: "Sweating like a pig, feeling like a fox."

The ads feature seven ordinary women aged between 14 and 51. You can see rivulets of perspiration, smudged mascara and sweat-matted hair in all their unabashed glory. It would be fantastic to see this healthy stance filter down to young girls across Scotland.

Which is why I was heartened to hear news of an Edinburgh mum who is on a mission to get more girls playing netball.

Christine Fourie has taken on the role as volunteer netball coach at Flora Stevenson Primary School in Comely Bank after discovering that there was no regular team sports provision for Edinburgh's P1 to P5 school girls.

She was taken aback to find that some of the girls had only seen netball on television during the Commonwealth Games, while others had never even heard of it. Yet, their enthusiasm was palpable as they set about learning the rules and playing as a team.

After just one season the girls are ready to play competitive games, but frustratingly there are no other local teams for them to play as Edinburgh Primary School Sport Association competitions are only for girls aged 10 and over.

Ms Fourie intends to work closely with Netball Scotland Regional Development in a bid to extend coaching for girls aged seven to 12 across the capital. This kind of proactive forward thinking is crucial. Not only in netball but across all sports.

When I was growing up it often felt like there was a dearth of strong female role models in sport. I looked to gymnasts in former Eastern Bloc countries whose names were as difficult to pronounce as their achievements were to emulate.

Young girls today have the likes of three-time world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Beth Tweddle – Britain's most decorated gymnast – to look up to.

Others include cyclists Laura Trott and Scotland's own Katie Archibald. On the athletics track there is Eilidh Child, Lynsey Sharp, Laura Muir, Libby Clegg and Sammi Kinghorn.

We can add Christine Fourie to that list. I certainly will be. We need others like her.