More than 54 percent of girls aged 8 to 18 who have never participated in organized sports are eager to engage in sports. This statistic reflects the high desire and interest of girls in sports, but the harsh reality is that many of them never get a chance to play. While professional women's sports leagues like the WNBA and NWSL are thriving, the main question is how many girls, due to lack of access to opportunities, will never be able to discover their abilities.
The impact of sports on girls' lives
Sports can have many positive effects on health, self-confidence, leadership, and a sense of belonging. However, no one can know what potential sports may create in a girl's life until she has the opportunity to discover it. As a board member of the Women's Sports Foundation, I am deeply concerned about what happens before an athlete reaches high international levels.
The gap between interest and opportunity
According to a new report from the Women's Sports Foundation, one key point is that there is a significant gap between girls' interest in sports and the actual opportunities to participate in them. Girls want to participate in sports, but still, many of them do not step onto the field. The report shows that when these girls engage in sports, families spend more on girls' sports than on boys'. This indicates the interest and potential of girls, but the main question is whether we have provided enough opportunities to turn this interest into participation?
Girls' entry into sports is just the beginning. We need to give them reasons to continue their activities. The report also points out a gap in the sense of belonging among teenagers. Among younger children, 80 percent of girls and boys say that sports are "for someone like me," but in their teenage years, girls feel this way less than boys.
My personal experience shows how a girl can change her life path with the first opportunity she receives. I started running around the age of 12 and had no specific plan to become a professional athlete or an Olympic champion. I was just a child who got a chance to try something and discovered what I was capable of doing.
This opportunity ultimately led me to Harvard, where I studied neurobiology and global health and eventually reached the Olympic podium. Sports not only helped shape my athletic identity but also helped me grow as a person and think about my possibilities in life beyond sports.
Existing challenges and the need for awareness
Currently, more than five decades after the passage of Title IX, which helped promote sports for girls and women, 79 percent of the surveyed girls have never heard of it. This lack of awareness is particularly concerning, as nearly half of the industry leaders surveyed in this report consider the rollback or reduction of Title IX enforcement to be the greatest threat to the progress of girls and women in sports.
Our responsibility is not only to benefit from the doors that have been opened to us but also to ensure that these doors remain open and that more doors are opened for future generations. For decades, female athletes have asked us to show that investing in their sports can be successful. Now we have an opportunity to build on these successes for the next generation.
This means creating a sports culture where more girls can participate in play, where they feel a sense of belonging, understand their rights, and discover where sports can take them. The greatest legacy of this moment is not only how far women's sports have come but also how we work together to provide more opportunities for girls to realize how far they can progress.
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