Olympians empowers BIPOC girls to get involved in sport
Young girls in the Windsor-Essex region had the opportunity of a lifetime Saturday, learning from world class athletes.
Female students from grade four to 10 who identify as black, indigenous or people of colour (BIPOC), were invited to a special event filled with fun and fitness in hopes of encouraging them to get active.
“I’m the upcoming next generation of athletes in my opinion,” said Ella Steel Douglas.
The 14-year-old has been in track and field since she was seven.
“I love long jump, jumping, sprinting. I hope to be a 200 metre runner and to be a long jump Olympian,” she said.
Steel Douglas is one of 60 girls participating in the third annual ‘Girls Can’ summit hosted by Border City Athletics. Organizers say the event aims to get BIPOC girls involved in sport.
“One in four girls have dropped out of sport due to COVID, just not having the opportunity to be involved and having the camaraderie to be around other females has really stifled their development,” said Kurt Downes, president and head coach of Border City Athletics
“Get girls in sport and staying in sport is really important,” said Olympian Noelle Montcalm.
From basic skills to running drills, participants had the opportunity to learn from four Olympians and elite female athletes.
“I am a three time Olympian now and I want to inspire the girls and say ‘you can do what it takes’ because I did it,” said Crystal Emmanuel.
“Noelle, she was one of the first Olympians that I encountered, so to have that times three is super inspiring for myself,” said Steel Douglas.
Many parents loved the opportunity for their daughters.
“It’s good opportunity for sports for kids at this age. Hopefully in the future we see more black kids in women’s football or other sports too,” said Blessing Ayininoula.
Organizers hope to collect research at the event to understand the biggest hurdles some girls face when it comes to getting involved in sport.
“It’s ok to be unique, to have a different culture, you know to be from an area that’s socially, economically not fantastic, but you can still strive to be amazing, to be great, and you can do it through sport. Why not?” says Downes.
“Hopefully we can inspire a few of them to come on over to the sport world,” Emmanuel added.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.