STEF REID: SPORT TRANSFORMED MY LIFE

This past year-and-a-half has highlighted many things, not least that physical activity truly is a lifeline. For Paralympian long-jumper and runner Stef Reid, the benefits of exercise – sports in particular – are loud and clear.

“Sport was the thing that saved me after my accident,” says Reid, 36, who lost her lower right leg and foot aged 15. “It was the catalyst that transformed my life, how I thought about myself and what I thought was possible. It gave me my confidence. I want that for every young woman.”

As it stands though, many are missing out. The sports gender gap is no secret, and while lots of people have been doing amazing work to change it, there’s still a way to go. Nearly one in three girls drop out of sport during puberty, according to Always. They also found 50% of women who let go of sports as teens later wished they’d stuck with it.

Reid has teamed up with Always on their mission to keep girls playing, in partnership with UK charity Sported (sported.org.uk), which supports community groups helping kids and young people overcome barriers to reaching their potential.

The power of sports

It’s a cause Reid, who is counting down to the Tokyo Paralympics, is hugely passionate about. There’s no ‘good age’ to lose a limb, of course, but at 15, Reid – who’s always been very sporty and originally had her heart set on becoming an international rugby star – had a lot to deal with.

“The obvious one was dealing with a life-changing injury that was never going to get better, it was just, ‘You’re going to have to deal with this’, together with my life’s dream, the thing I loved, now not being an option. On top of that, I was 15. When you’re a girl going through puberty, the last thing you want is something that makes you different.”

Eventually, Reid found her way to athletics – and international success with it, scooping silver at both the London 2012 and Rio

2016 Paralympics, working her way up to gold at the

2017 World Para Athletics Championships.

Reid says she was lucky to have had very supportive coaches and “people in my court” that made all the difference.

“I remember my very first athletics meet. I was taken to it by two retired gentlemen who ran an amazing amputee sports organisation; they came to my house and picked me up and were by my side the whole time… At the time, I didn’t think that much about it. But now I think, what a gift they gave, with their time and encouragement, and that transformed my life,” Reid reflects. “We need more of that for our young women.”

■ For more information, see always.com/enus/keepherplaying.