Lottery money will be used to cover the cost of childcare to allow more women to take up or go back into sport.
The £10 million government fund is aimed at working women who struggle to find time to play organised sport and those excluded because they cannot afford the cost of coaching, transport and babysitters.
The campaign aims to make sport a more practical part of the day for women averse to the gym. Schemes that could be funded include training sessions in schools for mothers who have just dropped off their children and sports coaches visiting coffee mornings and playgroups.
Sue Tibballs, chief executive of the Women’s Sport and Fitness Foundation, said: “Sport has been man-centric since Victorian times so this is long