THUNDER BAY - Young girls are more likely to drop out of sports than boys as they get older, but local and national women athletes are hoping to encourage young girls and women that with passion, hard work, and confidence, they too can achieve greatness in sports.
Fast and Female was back in Thunder Bay Sunday to bring Champ Chat to local female athletes, a joint initiative between the Dairy Farmers of Canada and Fast and Female’s Championher Campaign. Olympians and national and local athletes gathered at the Lakehead University Fieldhouse to inspire and motivate aspiring female athletes.
“Girls drop out of sports six times the rate of boys,” said Lindsey Wachter, Champ Chat facilitator. “Because of that they are missing out on all the benefits that sports have to offer, confidence, self-esteem, teamwork.”
Wachter added that one of the primary reasons young girls drop out of sports is because they lack a sense of belonging.
“We are trying to create a women’s sport community and empower people to stay involved in sport and love sport,” she said.
More than 100 girls between the ages of 8 and 18 participated in Champ Chat, which included practicing sports like basketball, volleyball, running, and yoga.
The day also included motivational talks with athletic role models, including Desiree Scott, a two time Olympic bronze medalist with the Canadian Women’s National Soccer team and a midfielder for FC Kansas City in the National Women’s Soccer League.
“Sport has brought so much joy to my life and taught me so many things and I think it’s important to have an event for girls, to get them excited about sport, and see that by seeing their ambassadors and Olympic athletes that dreams can come true,” Scott said.
Scott added that more girls do seem interested in sports, but she is disappointed by the growing number of girls who drop out of sports as they get older.
“I think it’s important to get them started young, get them active, it’s good for health, as well as building friendships and learning different life skills,” she said. “Sports have done all that for me and I wanted to share that message.”
Lakehead University Women's Basketball forward, Katelyn Andrea, participated in Champ Chat despite nursing a broken foot to share her experiences as a female athlete in Thunder Bay.
“Hopefully some of them can relate and be inspired by my story,” she said. “I like to think that I work really hard and when I set my mind to something I work as hard as I can to achieve it.”
“I think that showing them role models that have made it and showing them that it is possible,” Andrea continued. “If you work really hard you can do anything you put your mind to.”
Other role models and ambassadors included National Team Development Centre Thunder Bay’s Katherine Stewart-Jones, Alannah MacLean, Sadie White, and Mia Serratore, as well as Thunderwolves Nicole Dumonksi, Stacia Bates, and Katie Ulakovic.
While hard work is the cornerstone of success in the world of sports, it’s also about having fun, making friends, and finding your passion.
Friends Myla Lawson and Sarah Mann both participate in gymnastics and running and they were excited to see something like Champ Chat return to Thunder Bay.
“I saw that my friends were signing up and I thought it would be fun,” Mann said.
“I wanted to try something new,” Lawson added.
Both Lawson and Mann said their favourite part of participating in sports is having fun with their friends and exercising and they both want to continue in sports when they get older.
Scott said that her number one message to the girls at Champ Chat is to find something you love and be passionate about it.
“All the hard work that comes after will pay off because you have that love of what you do,” she said. “I’m here to just share the story. I’m a local Winnipeg girl with big dreams and with any opportunity anything is possible.”
