Statistically, as young girls approach their teenage years, they tend to drop sports from their life. How do you change that trend? The Jumpstart Games for Girls took Grade 6 girls from across Yorkton and area to show them the value of sport and a wide range of sports they could take part in. The program, brought to Yorkton thanks to Canadian Tire, assembled over 300 girls at the Gallagher Centre Flexihall on Nov. 1.
Glenn McLean, Jumpstart Regional Manager for Central Canada said this is about reaching girls and encouraging them to participate in sport on multiple levels. While the Flexihall was filled with Grade 6 students, they were not the only young women there, and high school students were also a big part of the day鈥檚 event. Eighteen girls took part in a half-day workshop with the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport, and they lead the younger students, before getting coaching certification on Sunday.
鈥淲e want women to take up leadership positions, and we want girls to stay in sport and participate. We know, statistics show, girls drop out of sport in their teenage years. Our hope is that through this day, they鈥檙e motivated to stay in sport.鈥�
The goal is for the day to be an introduction, explained McLean, and they want everyone to get their hands on the ball and try it out.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not meant to be competitive, it鈥檚 meant to be fun.鈥�
Lisa Franks knows the difference that sport can make in someone鈥檚 life. The Canadian Paralympian has seven Olympic medals in wheelchair sprints 鈥� six gold and one silver. Franks became paralyzed at 14, waking up in the middle of the night unable to move her legs due to arteriovenous malformation, and said sport was part of how she dealt with the paralysis.
鈥淲hen I was paralyzed, I turned to sport to bring me through the biggest life challenge I had. I feel like so many girls drop off in those teenage years, so to be able to foster in these young girls a love of sport and activity they can carry on for the rest of their life, and be active for the rest of their life, is something that鈥檚 really close to my heart.鈥�
Of course, Franks is an Olympain, so she knows just how much sport can change someone鈥檚 life. But while not everyone will compete at the same level, Franks said sport can change lives dramatically for the better.
鈥淓ven just being involved in sport, you have so many leadership skills that come to the surface, you meet amazing people, and you create memories that come from being part of a team or an organized group. People who aren鈥檛 involved with sport don鈥檛 get those opportunities. Sport creates so many things, including mental and physical strength.鈥�
In some ways, Franks said that she鈥檚 similar to the girls taking part in the Jumpstart Games. She began to specialize in her field very early, and at 15 she was already set in wheelchair racing. Now in her 30s, she鈥檚 discovering many new sports that she can take part in, the same way the girls at the event have a taste of a wide range of sports.
鈥淭o expose these kids and to see what interests them and what fits with their personality is really, really important. It鈥檚 funny how I鈥檓 going back in my mid-30s and getting that opportunity and seeing the excitement I get from it. It鈥檚 great to share that excitement with these young girls.鈥�
Franks knows that an athlete can inspire, and between her and Natasha Fox, a team Canada wrestler at the event, they know seeing success can inspire. She notes that the most recent example in Canada was tennis player Bianca Andreescu, the first Canadian woman to win a Grand Slam singles title, and she said a cartoon, which showed a young girl getting inspired to take up tennis herself, summed up how a successful athlete can inspire someone.
鈥淵ou have to see something to realize it鈥檚 possible. For these young girls to see another female athlete who has travelled the world and represented Canada, it puts the idea in their head as well.鈥�
