{"id":970,"date":"2020-10-15T09:39:30","date_gmt":"2020-10-15T09:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/?page_id=970"},"modified":"2026-01-12T11:44:35","modified_gmt":"2026-01-12T11:44:35","slug":"why-sports-play","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Why sports &#038; play"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; el_class=&#8221;row-minus-margin row-waves-orange&#8221;][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243;][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=&#8221;side-waves&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243;][vc_column_text el_class=&#8221;title-white&#8221;][\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;934&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; onclick=&#8221;custom_link&#8221; link=&#8221;https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/&#8221;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;301&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; onclick=&#8221;custom_link&#8221; link=&#8221;https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/win-win-strategies\/&#8221;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;2040&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; onclick=&#8221;custom_link&#8221; link=&#8221;https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/win-win-strategies\/&#8221;][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;100px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243;][vc_column_text el_class=&#8221;title-style-custom subtitlte-orange&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h4>leveling the<\/h4>\n<h2><strong>playing field<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;][vc_column_text el_class=&#8221;title-style-custom subtitlte-orange&#8221;]Sports programmes are increasingly recognised as an effective tool for empowering youth but are often designed for, and dominated by, boys and men.<\/p>\n<p>As women\u2019s rights organisations make powerful strides in the development arena, their efforts must support and address the unique challenges faced by girls and young women. Through sport, people learn to embody leadership and tackle challenges. This is why sports programmes are effective tools to combat gender inequity, and why it is critical that these programmes are designed specifically to serve girls and young women.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243;][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;70px&#8221;][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221; el_class=&#8221;title-style-custom subtitlte-orange&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h4>Out with the old,<\/h4>\n<h2>in with the new!<\/h2>\n<p>Sports allow girls to challenge socio-cultural norms and gender stereotypes on the pitch, at the community level, and in larger society. When girls play, they transcend the gender limits set on them, building the ability to do the same in other areas of life, such as in education and at work. The impact of sports continues off the pitch and throughout life\u2014athletes take initiative, raise their voices, and have the courage to take risks.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/4&#8243;][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;70px&#8221;][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;3\/4&#8243;][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221; el_class=&#8221;title-style-custom subtitlte-orange&#8221;]<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why sport?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Through it, girls can build self-esteem, courage and take back ownership of their own lives. Having freedom gives girls confidence to rewrite the narrative that was already written for them and journey to an empowered future.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;1\/4&#8243;][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;70px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=&#8221;1901&#8243; img_size=&#8221;FULL&#8221; alignment=&#8221;center&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;150px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row full_width=&#8221;stretch_row&#8221; el_class=&#8221;row-minus-margin row-waves-orange&#8221;][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243;][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner el_class=&#8221;side-waves&#8221; width=&#8221;1\/3&#8243;][vc_column_text el_class=&#8221;title-white&#8221;][\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=&#8221;934&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; onclick=&#8221;custom_link&#8221; link=&#8221;https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/&#8221;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;301&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; onclick=&#8221;custom_link&#8221; link=&#8221;https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/win-win-strategies\/&#8221;][vc_single_image image=&#8221;2040&#8243; img_size=&#8221;full&#8221; onclick=&#8221;custom_link&#8221; link=&#8221;https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/win-win-strategies\/&#8221;][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;100px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=&#8221;2\/3&#8243;][vc_column_text el_class=&#8221;title-style-custom subtitlte-orange&#8221;] leveling the playing field [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;50px&#8221;][vc_column_text el_class=&#8221;title-style-custom subtitlte-orange&#8221;]Sports programmes are increasingly recognised as an effective tool for empowering youth but are often designed for, and dominated by, boys and men. As&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":942,"parent":248,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-970","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Sports creates leaders, playing creates freedom! \u2013 GRLS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sport is a great vehicle for positive impact and change. Through it, girls can build self-esteem, courage and take back ownership of their own lives.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sports creates leaders, playing creates freedom! \u2013 GRLS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sport is a great vehicle for positive impact and change. Through it, girls can build self-esteem, courage and take back ownership of their own lives.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GRLS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-12T11:44:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GRLS-Hero-why-sport-n-play.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/\",\"name\":\"Sports creates leaders, playing creates freedom! \u2013 GRLS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GRLS-Hero-why-sport-n-play.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-15T09:39:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-12T11:44:35+00:00\",\"description\":\"Sport is a great vehicle for positive impact and change. Through it, girls can build self-esteem, courage and take back ownership of their own lives.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GRLS-Hero-why-sport-n-play.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GRLS-Hero-why-sport-n-play.png\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":850},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Club\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Why sports &#038; play\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/\",\"name\":\"GRLS\",\"description\":\"Play to win\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GRLS\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GRLS-green-square-2.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GRLS-green-square-2.png\",\"width\":128,\"height\":72,\"caption\":\"GRLS\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sports creates leaders, playing creates freedom! \u2013 GRLS","description":"Sport is a great vehicle for positive impact and change. Through it, girls can build self-esteem, courage and take back ownership of their own lives.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sports creates leaders, playing creates freedom! \u2013 GRLS","og_description":"Sport is a great vehicle for positive impact and change. Through it, girls can build self-esteem, courage and take back ownership of their own lives.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/","og_site_name":"GRLS","article_modified_time":"2026-01-12T11:44:35+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":850,"url":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GRLS-Hero-why-sport-n-play.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/","url":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/","name":"Sports creates leaders, playing creates freedom! \u2013 GRLS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GRLS-Hero-why-sport-n-play.png","datePublished":"2020-10-15T09:39:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-12T11:44:35+00:00","description":"Sport is a great vehicle for positive impact and change. Through it, girls can build self-esteem, courage and take back ownership of their own lives.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GRLS-Hero-why-sport-n-play.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/GRLS-Hero-why-sport-n-play.png","width":1920,"height":850},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/why-sports-play\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Club","item":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/the-club\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Why sports &#038; play"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/","name":"GRLS","description":"Play to win","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#organization","name":"GRLS","url":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GRLS-green-square-2.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GRLS-green-square-2.png","width":128,"height":72,"caption":"GRLS"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=970"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/970\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2412,"href":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/970\/revisions\/2412"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.womenwin.org\/grls\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}