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[Music]
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[Music]
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when you think of sports
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what do you think of do you picture a
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person running a marathon
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to people playing a game of tennis or
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maybe a group of people playing
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basketball
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maybe you picture a man scoring a goal
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into the football net
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or a woman striking a pose in yoga
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sport at its most basic is movement
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and physical ability it's something that
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supports our physical
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and mental and social health and
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provides a platform for
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us to enhance our life skills sports
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provides a place where people of
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different ages
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gender religion culture
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sexuality can come together and unite
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over teamwork and shared love of a
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sports team
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sports is something that we should all
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be engaging in
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but have you noticed that sometimes
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sports
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is inaccessible to some of us
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why is there a divide in sports
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earlier when i asked you to think of
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sports would a female motor car racer
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or a male ballerina have immediately
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crossed
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your mind stereotypes are pervasive in
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sports
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it's still primarily a male domain
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children from disadvantaged backgrounds
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frequently have less access to resources
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and venues to participate
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sports in the elderly and people with
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chronic conditions
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often don't meet the physical activity
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levels suggested by the world health
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organization it pains me when i think of
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this
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because i think everyone should have the
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opportunity to engage in sports
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and reap the benefits that it can bring
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to them
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as a child i loved playing sports
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and i loved being outdoors my parents
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were mostly very supportive of me
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but they were cautious of me playing
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sports like rugby
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and athletics i could figure skate
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but i was discouraged from ballet
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kicking a ball around with my cousins
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was normal
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but i was also told that football isn't
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for girls and that it would make me
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short
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i loved running around hopping skipping
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like many kids do but if i came home
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with cuts and bruises from falling over
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i was told that i was careless needless
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to say
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playing sports but sometimes quite
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confusing
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for me the sports field
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was where i most felt like myself it's
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where i formed
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many of my friendships watching sports
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has given me many conversational points
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with my dad
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and playing sports is my outlet it helps
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me channel my inner competitiveness
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and pushes me to think about my own
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self-development
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and as i've gotten older i've begun to
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engage in sports
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differently through coaching and
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development
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i started a non-profit that champions
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sports
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for women and girls engaging in sports
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brings me purpose and fulfillment and i
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know the transformative
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power of sports and i also know
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the barriers that society erects to keep
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people
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from accessing sports from speaking to
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many women and girls as a non-profit
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i know why sports are important to them
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sports are part of who i am sports
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keeps me grounded sports has taught me
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how to be compassionate and how to be
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supportive
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of other people sports has taught me
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discipline
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which i've applied in my professional
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career and i can see the same thing
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happening for my daughter
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through sports my daughters learned that
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they may not be good at something right
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away
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but the real lesson is that it takes
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time and practice
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and they must learn to deal with
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frustration and disappointment
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and data supports why women and girls
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should engage in sports
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the research shows that girls who
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participate in sport
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are likelier to report higher levels of
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confidence
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are likelier to believe that they're
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smart enough for their dream career
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and less likely to want to change their
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body image
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plenty of research shows that playing
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sports
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helps us build skills like perseverance
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time management
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communication and teamwork
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i started out by encouraging more women
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and girls
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to engage in sports and i continue to be
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a huge proponent of this
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and over time i've come to realize
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that sports are a powerful tool for
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economic
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empowerment and for fostering a diverse
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and inclusive society
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can you recall a time when you walked
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past the public sports field in hong
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kong
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did you see more men and boys than women
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and girls
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playing sports if your answer is
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yes that's not so surprising
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research in hong kong shows that there
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are more teenage
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boys than teenage girls engaging in
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sports as an extracurricular
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global research shows girls drop out of
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sports at twice
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the rate of boys if you're a woman and a
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girl
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maybe you can relate to why were you
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told to concentrate on your studies
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and not to play so much
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were you made to feel like you don't
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really belong on the sports
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field perhaps geared at for making a
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mistake
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or told that you're too muscular too
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rough
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or too attacked tomboy
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or maybe you were told that you don't
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behave like a girl
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for me my own mom sometimes joked
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that she had given birth to a son and
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not a daughter
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because i was so active
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in 2018 at the non-profit
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we launched a survey that uncovered that
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two-thirds of our respondents feel women
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and girls face more challenges than men
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and boys
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when accessing sports some reasons
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among many physical challenges
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sexism not being supported or having the
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resources
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to engage in sports and the need to
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prioritize
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family mothers in particular
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felt they have no time and is not
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prioritized
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among the list of responsibilities that
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they have
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other stories that we've heard from
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a high school student there's a boys
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team
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but not a girls team for the sport i
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want to play in
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i either have to change sports or i have
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to play with the boys
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but because they do tend to be taller
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and bigger than me
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i am more conscious about my safety
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from an international school student i
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heard
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the boys get better and more field times
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but our performance in competition is
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just as good
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and from a local school student i once
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heard
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because there are more boys playing
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sports the boys will play on school
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grounds
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after school classes are over but
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her and her school friends will go to a
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different district and on the weekends
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and not to mention that women and girls
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in sports
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frequently are less visible in media and
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public domains
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there's less investment and resources
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going into supporting women and girls
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sports women athletes are frequently
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paid less
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than their male counterparts and
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there are fewer women in leadership
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positions in the sports industry
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it's not right that sports are
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prioritized for men and boys
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not when sports supports our health
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and our professional development
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three-quarters of c-suite respondents to
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an ey research
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indicated that a background in sports
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can
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accelerate a woman's career
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this past year as gyms and sports
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facilities closed
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did you find yourself participating in
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online workouts
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maybe you have fast enough internet and
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space at home
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to lay out some equipment or a mat
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but can you imagine how this type of
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virtual interaction
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would work for families living in
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subdivided units
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it's impossible coven 19
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may have shown a light on inequality but
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the divide is deeply rooted
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research has shown that children from
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low-income families
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are likelier to feel deprived of the
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opportunity to participate in sports
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and given how academics are important
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when families have extra resources
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they're likelier to prioritize
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tuition sports are merely a nice to have
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and other barriers cost of equipment
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cost to get to venues and the cost of
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the venue itself
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and the situation is even harder for
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low-income ethnic minority families
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where
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it's not just cost that can be
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prohibitive but there
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are also language and cultural barriers
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that have fewer opportunities for them
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to engage in sports
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that meet their preferences and what
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about for
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individuals who have different
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intellectual and
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physical abilities hong kong has some
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metal winning paralympians but the
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general perception
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is still that people with disabilities
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shouldn't or can't engage in sports
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and as such there are also very few
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opportunities
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for them but regardless
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playing sports and engaging in sports
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provides young people
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with the opportunities to practice
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resilience
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overcome challenges and build social and
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emotional skills
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that support them for life it shouldn't
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be that only those with the resources to
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access sports
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who get to do so this divide
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cannot continue to propagate and the gap
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will only keep
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widening without our collective action
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to address these
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issues and not to mention the
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intergenerational effect
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that lack of sports has
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i've witnessed that families with lower
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sports competence
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and literacy are generally less equipped
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to teach their children skills such as
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foundational
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functional and coordination movements
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which are important for sporting skills
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and in turn nurture health and sporting
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interests
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globally sports is recognized as an
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enabler for sustainable development
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whether it's for improving our health
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reducing disease
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for poverty alleviation achieving gender
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equality
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are for building sustainable and
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resilient communities
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in hong kong especially in recent years
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the recognition of sports contribution
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to enhancing our livelihoods has
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certainly
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increased but it's still not enough
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and together we must continue to promote
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sports
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activate people to get physically active
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and
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grow the sporting culture and ecosystem
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and we must do so in ways
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that promote equity in sport
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here are some of my suggestions to
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encourage more moms
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to engage in sports and help overcome
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their perception that they don't have
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time
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organize family activities such as
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mothers and daughter sports days
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which promote fun and inclusion can
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bring in women
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as coaches and role models but also
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enhance family bonds
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to support girls to overcome the
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challenges they feel
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when accessing sports provide leadership
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and training programs
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that help them build not just sporting
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skills but skills that are transferable
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to the workplace
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skills such as coaching marketing
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finances budgeting and pairing them with
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athletes as mentors who can support and
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elevate
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them and together we can
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build a community of change makers and
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girls who can advocate for themselves
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to make sports more for all
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partner with donate to fund
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volunteer at philanthropic and
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non-profit
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organizations and provide more sporting
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opportunities
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especially in low-income neighborhoods
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by providing
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traditional to niche sports at free or
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affordable rates
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we can alleviate the financial burden on
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families
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and also expose children to the variety
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of sports
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that are available and nurture their
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sporting interests
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and corporates such as banks and real
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estate companies
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can invest into upgrading facilities or
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providing more venues
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for people to engage in sports
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and just as there are schemes such as a
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school textbooks allowance or student
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travel subsidy scheme
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there can be more schemes that provide
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scholarships or subsidies
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for sports participation
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when women and girls and young people
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tell me how much they love
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playing sports it's not fair that they
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have trouble
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accessing what they love
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when we teach sports we see countless
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smiles on people's faces
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whether they are running warming up
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hopping in and out of an agility ladder
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high-fiving their friends it doesn't
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matter if they're young
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or old a man or a woman
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a boy or a girl speaks a different
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language or has a different skin color
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sports are fun sports are empowering
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and sports is for everyone
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i envision a world where everyone has
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the opportunity to
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engage in support of their choice
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and i'm playing a role to make sports
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more equitable in hong kong
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will you join me
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you