Why Sports Are Important for Girls
https://womenwin.org/work/strategy
One Win Leads to Another
Sport is an accelerator for leadership development. It’s a powerful opportunity for girls to build their self-esteem, courage and self-efficacy. The ripple effect of that experience continues off the pitch and throughout a girl’s life – athletes take initiative, raise their voices and have the courage to take risks, fall and get back up.
Through sport, girls can:
Become physically stronger and healthier and develop a greater ownership and understanding of their bodies. If a girl considers her body her own, she protects it, cherishes it and demands that it be respected.
Develop critical life skills transferable to other spheres of life such as teamwork, goal setting, resilience and communication through constant practice.
Gain access to a safe space to grow and explore, especially related to physical, social and emotional development.
Connect with peers for social support – a vital reference point and resource for dealing with the challenges adolescence presents.
Learn to challenge socio-cultural norms and gender stereotypes at the community level, and society at large. When girls play, they transcend gender limits set on females, which builds muscles to do this in other areas of life, such as education and at a job
Gain access to a positive female role model in a female coach or team leader. This gives girls a vision of what is possible and a caring, supportive mentor to help navigate adolescence.
Explore human difference and get connected to others from a different class, race, caste, religion, which in turn can promote mutual respect and a greater understanding of one another.
Get the attention of the community. When girls play in public, they have an instant awareness raising opportunity to advocate for their rights within the community. Victories, kits, leadership positions can shift a girls’ status within her community – from being a liability to source of pride.
Have fun. It’s so simple, but the sheer distraction from pressure of growing up, is an essential experience that we’re all entitled to.
In short, wins on the field translate into wins off the field – One Win Leads to Another.
