Encouraging girls to reach their goals

Through a series of tailored projects, newly upgraded initiative seeks to inspire female participation in school sports, Xing Wen reports.

From Olympic glory to golden goals, women in sports have recently been enjoying a brighter spotlight than usual, with many of them catapulting to fame and becoming influential role models in China.

People have been captivated by the stellar performances of female athletes at the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and that glorious night of Feb 6, when the Chinese women's soccer team, nicknamed the "steel roses" by their fans, won the AFC Women's Asian Cup final with a stunning three-goal, second-half comeback.

Soccer player Wang Shanshan, who was named the competition's Most Valuable Player, is among the sporting role models that are inspiring the next generation of girls.

"I hope that a growing number of people can be inspired by the spirit of the Chinese women's soccer team and become more involved in the sport," Wang says in an online interview.

Her comments come after she attended the launch ceremony of an upgraded version of a female empowerment project－Boundless Girls, which aims to encourage greater participation of female teenagers in sports－earlier in this month with other female sports stars, including swimmer Liu Xiang and retired tennis player Li Na.

"I look forward to seeing more girls tap their potential in sports with the support of the project," Wang says.

"Sports will help them to increase their self-confidence and get a clearer view of what they want in the future."

The project was established by sportswear giant Nike on March 8, 2019, to help increase female participation in sports.

Before its implementation, a survey was conducted among more than 2,000 female students, aged between 9 and 14, to discover the main obstacles that they face. The results show that they often fall victim to discrimination and the stereotypical view that certain sports are not for girls. The fear of being judged by the opposite sex, changes in their physical maturity and lack of female sporting role models are also demotivating factors.

Based on the findings, the project collaborated widely with schools to offer specially designed courses in yoga, kickboxing and other sports for girls, as well as encouraging physical education teachers to propose creative plans to enable more girls to enjoy athletic pursuits in a more scientific way. Sports bras have also been donated to project participants.

Additionally, female employees of Nike, and sports enthusiasts from universities, have also been invited to volunteer in coaching girls in school sports.

More than 30,000 female students from over 320 primary schools across the country have benefited from the project's initiatives over the past three years.

Han Jingwen, a 14-year-old participant in the project, says her mother used to hold the view that playing soccer would distract her from studies. However, after the project invited volunteers from Peking University to coach at her school for a semester, she found new, accessible role models.

"I told my mother I can play soccer and, at the same time, maintain a good academic performance, just like the older girls from Peking University," she says.

After witnessing how the young girls responded to the volunteers, Nike decided to upgrade the project, launching Boundless Girls 2.0－together with China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, China Children and Teenagers' Fund and other charity partners－in the hope of reaching out to a larger group of teenagers in need.

This time, the project will make greater efforts in engaging volunteers from universities to accompany and guide young girls in embracing the happiness of sports at dedicated summer camps.

Meanwhile, an online sport community will be forged to set a platform for coaches, trainers and volunteers involved in the project to share their personal experiences and offer practical tips for training girls and how to better carry on the spirit of empowering females through sports.

Xu Lin, head of Social and Community Impact at Nike's Greater China operation, says that there is an urban-rural divide in terms of PE faculty and sports facilities. Consequently, the project will distribute more resources to rural areas by promoting tailored courses, distribution of sportswear and helping in the construction of sports facilities.

"Also, it is worth noting that the challenges encountered by urban students, to some extent, differ from those faced by their counterparts in remote villages," she adds.

For example, most of the project participants in rural areas are "left-behind" children who more or less lack love and care. The company of the volunteers will bring them warmth and companionship, she says.

With regard to urban students, who for the most part enjoy high-quality education resources and sports facilities, Xu says that many of them might have tight schedules, due to attending different kinds of afterschool classes, with little time left for sports.

"We've worked out different empowerment plans," Xu says, adding that the project has invited volunteers who study psychology in university to better communicate with the young girls to help them cope with changes in their physical maturity that occur during adolescence and their self-esteem over this period.

Diao Henan, former leader of the Peking University women's soccer team, is one of the project's volunteers. She says her involvement in sports makes her more self-assured and outgoing.

"Every time we finished a day's training on the field, we would go out together for dinner. My teammates have all become my close friends. These experiences and being a member of the team bring me happiness," she says.

"I believe that sports can teach us what we can never learn from the textbooks and how to temper ourselves," Diao says.

She was invited to be a volunteer for the project in 2019 as an assistant coach at a primary school in Beijing's Fengtai district.

"I'm happy to bring positive energy to more girls by sharing my stories," she says.

She finished her postgraduate program from the Department of Psychology at Peking University last year and has decided to conduct further research in the field of sports science.

Diao is also producing blogs on the videosharing platform Bilibili to share aspects of her daily life, both academic and athletic, to inspire more viewers to embrace their best selves.

Chen Hongtao, secretary of China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation, says the foundation will help to select the schools in need and will give priority to those in key counties of the rural revitalization strategy.

"We will cooperate with multiple charity institutions to attract young volunteers to give one-on-one assistance to school-age girls. We hope that the project will not only benefit female students, but also create a wider passion for sports within these schools," he adds.

Contact the writer at xingwen@chinadaily.com.cn