Paralympian Stef is urging girls to keep playing sport
COMPETING GAVE BACK ‘FIRE AND FIERCENESS’
A MEDAL-WINNING paralympian athlete is urging girls to keep playing sport through puberty.
Long jumper Stef Reid, who trains in Loughborough, said the benefits of keeping up sport extend into adulthood.
Nearly one in three girls drops out of sport during puberty, according to a study by menstrual products company Always.
However, it found a quarter of those who kept playing sport said it helped them learn how to persevere, 30 per cent that it helped self-esteem and half wished they had continued to play.
At the age of 15, Stef was in a boating accident, resulting in the lower part of her right leg being amputated.
She went from being a confident and outgoing teenager to someone who felt embarrassed about how she looked.
“Sport gave me back my fire and fierceness,” she said.
“Through it, I learned the value of hard work, I learnt how to deal with failure and I learnt how to be resilient.
“It also helped me build confidence to explore so many things outside of my sporting career, that I might not have considered before, like starting a career as a broadcaster, stepping in to sport governance roles and even walking in London Fashion Week.
“I wish more people knew how much sports can help girls, just like it helped me.
“I find it really sad that so many girls give up when they hit puberty. That’s why this partnership with Always means so much to me.
“I want other young girls to be able to experience the benefits I did, and I hope you’ll join me and Always to keep girls playing.”
Stef won bronze in the T44 200m at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and silvers in the long jump at London in 2012 and Rio in 2016.
The research found nearly 75 per cent of girls said they required more support to keep them involved in sport.
Always is supporting Spoted, a network of grassroots sport and physical activity groups.