ALBANY — For years, Heather E. Schwartz believed she was bad at sports. So bad, in fact, by the time she got to junior high school, she hated gym class.

Today, looking back, the 38-year-old freelance writer is sorry she didn’t at least try to take part in junior high and high school sports.

That’s why she recently started a Web site called “I hate gym class,” out of her Albany home — www.Ihategymclass.com.

“I didn’t realize at the time that I was missing out on something,” said Schwartz, author of six nonfiction sports books for girls and freelance writer, including stories for The Gazette. “Many middle school girls start to dread and despise gym class when they’re self-conscious about body issues, unsure of their athletic abilities and teased by sportier classmates.”

Schwartz was 32 before she realized she actually had some athletic ability, when her husband, Philip, a certified ski instructor and former Gazette reporter, began to teach her how to ski.

“He showed me the pattern of progression,” Schwartz recalled. “There were specific skills you had to learn; a way to turn and stop before you went down the hill. And I was like, ‘Wow! I’m doing a sport.’ ”

That got Schwartz, who grew up in North Colonie, to thinking about what she had missed out on.

“Maybe I could have been good at softball if somebody had taught me specifically how to hold the ball and how to throw it,” said Schwartz. “And I thought it would be nice to help other girls who hated gym.”

Schwartz designed and developed her Web site in July.

“My whole Web site is about encouragement and support and trying to get across the idea that you can do it,” Schwartz explained.

“You can learn and be better than you are today. I’m not saying that everyone will be an Olympic athlete, but I think everyone can feel good about their performance, and at least feel competent, positive and have fun.”

Teri Bordenave, executive director of Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region, said she thinks the “I hate gym class” Web site is a great outlet for girls.

“We’re encouraging girls at Girls Inc. to use the site,” said Bordenave, who for the most part did not enjoy gym when she was in junior high school, either.

“I was able to enjoy archery because we had some neighbors who were professional archers, and they taught me how to shoot,” said Bordenave. “But that was about it.”

As an adult, Bordenave began running, and she studied modern dance. Today, she walks, practices yoga and occasionally dances.

“It’s become part of my life, and that’s what we are trying to teach girls at Girl’s Inc. — to discover which of these physical activities they can embrace for the rest of their lives.”

Bordenave encourages girls to participate in sports to combat obesity and to learn how to participate as a member of a team. “I think that will help them as adult women,” she said.

Gains to be made

According to the Women’s Sports Foundation, an organization founded in 1974 by tennis star Billie Jean King that works to increase the participation of girls and women in sports and fitness, participation in sports has several benefits. Some of these include:

- High school girls who play sports are less likely to be involved in an unwanted pregnancy; more likely to get better grades in school and more likely to graduate than girls who do not play sports.

- As little as four hours of exercise a week may reduce a teenage girl’s risk of breast cancer by up to 60 percent.

- Forty percent of women over the age of 50 suffers from osteoporosis. Weight-bearing exercises are necessary to establish bone mass.

- Girls and women who play sports have higher levels of confidence and self esteem and lower levels of depression.

- Girls and women who play sports have a more positive body image and higher states of psychological well-being than girls and women who do not play sports.

- Sports are where boys traditionally learn about teamwork, goal-setting, the pursuit of excellence in performance and other achievement-oriented behaviors, critical skills necessary for success in the workplace. Some 80 percent of female executives at Fortune 500 companies identified themselves as having played sports.

Schwartz said she loved sports when she started grade school but, by the sixth grade, she had so many negative experiences in gym class, she hated it.

For example, she recalled one gym teacher during softball who used to throw the ball to her in the outfield, knowing she would be unable to throw it back to him in one motion.

“All the kids would be yelling, ‘hurry up,’ and ‘you stink,’ and I felt like an idiot,” said Schwartz. “Young girls who don’t believe they can succeed in sports need special attention. I do think there are more efforts being made today, but I think there are still girls who hate gym.”

Changing perceptions

Studies show if a girl does not participate in sports by age 10, there is only a 10 percent chance she will participate at age 25. By age 14, girls are six times more likely to drop out of sports activities than boys.

The Web site includes a question-and-answer page for girls to ask questions related to sports that they might be too embarrassed to take to peers or to a physical education teacher.

“I want to reach girls just as they’re starting to get — and believe — the message that they shouldn’t enjoy sports,” said Schwartz, the mother of an 18-month-old son, Nolan. “They can still turn that attitude around, learn the skills they need and consider themselves athletic in high school. They could still gain the benefits of really engaging in athletic activities, including gym class, and even playing on a high school team.”