Girls Got Game teaches to run for your life

MANILA, Philippines – Sports have always been a metaphor for life. It is common to hear people refer to “striking out” when they’ve reached their limits, or scoring a “field goal” when they’ve achieved success. The appeal of sports is how they imitate life.   

“It symbolizes hope,” said Coach Krizzane Ty, one of the founders of Girls Got Game (GGG). 

GGG camps officially kicked off May 21, 2015 in the Amoranto Sports Complex. This exclusive girls camp held in the summer of 2015 lasted for four days, concluding on May 24, 2015. Two venues, Amoranto Sports Complex and the Blue Pitch Circuit Makati, were used.  

GGG held four camps for running, football, basketball and volleyball. One hundred girls from Pasig and Quezon City were chosen from Gen. Roxas Elementary School, Barangay Pansol and Barangay Pineda.  

The GGG camps aim to use sports as an avenue to uplift underprivileged girls from their current socioeconomic status. The camp aims to instill values in girls that will help them build character and have a better life. 

Recent findings by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Girl Effect and the United Nations suggest that empowering young women can end the cycle of poverty. With this recent finding, young women who focused on sports were more empowered. Founders Krizanne Ty and Nikka Arcilla believe that empowering these young Filipinas will have lasting effects across the entire socioeconomic sphere. 

In order to further inspire the chosen athletes, a certain motivational speaker opened each day with a talk labeled as an MVP Talk. Accomplished athletes such as 11-time Iron Man finisher Ani de Leon-Brown, 4-time UAAP Women’s Football Champion Marielle Benitez, former Philippine Youth Team basketball player Mariana Lopa and former Blue Eagle Spiker Gretchen Ho talked about where their respective sport has brought them.  

Each MVP Talk and camp had a value emphasized per day: discipline, resiliency, respect and trust. The value of teamwork tied everything together as does the significance of not cutting corners. 

“If you want to become a lawyer, a doctor or anything else,” runner Ani de Leon said during her MVP talk. “Discipline is important to reach your goal.” She added that the value of discipline in training has helped her achieve her goals of finishing the Iron Man.

“We want them to learn values such as discipline,” one of the founders, Coach Nikka said, echoing what Ani de Leon-Brown spoke about. For them, it is just a bonus if the girls become athletes or fall in love with the sport. Ultimately, their goal is to empower these women to lead more productive lives that will improve their present conditions. 

“Gusto ko pong maging mas masigla at active (I want to be more lively, and be more active),” 10-year-old Robinne when asked what she would get from this camp. Glaydel, a 12-year-old girl who wants to be a volleyball player, replied that she wants to learn discipline from this camp.

Marianne Caparros volunteered to be a coach for the football camp held at the Blue Pitch. “I loved my sport even more because of the values being taught to the children,” she answered when asked what she got out of it.  She added that she was able to pass on what she knows because Marianne is a college football player herself. 

There are a lot of reasons why people run or do sports. Be it for a healthy lifestyle, stress-relief or athletic conditioning, the reasons can be quite distinct for each person.

“These girls run for hope,” Krizanne declared. She believes that through sports, girls will be able to overcome the obstacles that life has dealt them and eventually succeed. With programs like these, running for one’s life doesn’t sound so bad after all. – Rappler.com