Here’s Why Women and Girls Should Play Sports

Seeing athletes compete in the Olympics, reach the top of their sport, and actually achieve a lifelong dream is already inspiring enough — and incredibly emotional. Layer on top of that the sappy ads that run during commercial breaks and the event is basically as tear-inducing as a Nicholas Sparks movie. Ahead of Rio 2016, Always released another spot in their #LikeaGirl campaign that is guaranteed to make any man, woman, or child with a conscience a blubbering mess.

“A lot of boys have told me that I can’t play rugby because I’m a girl,” one adolescent athlete said at the start of the one-minute video. “You have to be girly, you have to like certain things,” another noted of the stereotypes she’s heard. In fact, Always learned that 67 percent of girls feel that society does not encourage them to play sports and that by age 17, at the end of puberty, more than half of girls (51 percent) will have quit sports.

That’s why, the feminine hygiene products brand is on a mission to keep girls playing. Interestingly enough, a 2015 US consumer data study found that women ages 18-24 are twice as likely to be confident if they play sports regularly than those who do not play at all.

So heed the advice of this youngin: “You are worth it and you deserve to play whatever sport you want to play. So don’t let anyone tell you you can’t do it.”

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