05 March 2025 - For International Women's Day 2025, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is promoting grassroots initiatives across the Olympic Movement that provide women and girls with the opportunity to access and benefit from sport. One such example is the Turkish Olympic Committee’s “Empowering Girls Through Sport” project, which has been making a profound difference to girls aged from 10 to 14 since its launch in 2021, with approximately 1,500 participants so far.
Supported by the IOC through the Olympic Solidarity Olympic Values programme, the grassroots programme provides year-round access to sport to girls in three of Türkiye’s disadvantaged cities – Gaziantep, Şanliurfa and Diyarbakir – which have low school attendance rates for girls, particularly after middle school, and where children’s participation in sport is low.
In total, four sports schools have been set up in these cities to provide expert coaching in seven Olympic sports, badminton, basketball, gymnastics, handball, table tennis, taekwondo and volleyball. The Turkish Olympic Committee, with the support of Olympic Solidarity, funds all the costs for the project – from clothes and equipment to gym renovations and cleaning.
We started the project to contribute to the physical, mental and social development of our girls through sport. We wanted to strengthen their self-confidence and self-esteem and support them to continue their education.
Nese Gundogan, Turkish Olympic Committee Secretary General
Evidence indicates that the programme is already having a significant impact, with 61.5 per cent of participants having improved their academic performance after taking part in the project, and 96.7 per cent having expressed a strong desire to pursue higher education. The findings also highlight the project's role in changing gender perceptions within communities, and increasing parental awareness of the benefits of girls' involvement in sport.
Drawing inspiration from strong role models
Empowering Girls Through Sport is not just providing a safe environment for the girls, but also inspiring them. Among the prominent athletes supporting the project is Eda Erdem, captain of the women’s national volleyball team and Chair of the Turkish Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission and Executive Board member. A three-time Olympian, she plays a key role in advocating for the project's mission.
One participant said: “I’ve been so happy since I joined the school. I love spending time with my friends and our coaches. I want to become an athlete like Eda Erdem one day.”
Erdem believes the programme will increase the participants’ self-confidence: “When they continue their lives as strong women in the future, they will say, ‘I’m glad I played volleyball or handball back then.’”
Badminton player Aliye Demirbağ, who represented Türkiye at the Youth Olympic Games Nanjing 2014, is another athlete who has joined the project to inspire children. “I hope these girls will not give up on their dreams and turn them into reality in the future,” she says.
Many of the girls taking part in the project now aspire to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Erdem and Demirbağ, with more than 75 per cent of survey participants stating they had formed dreams relating to professional sports careers.
Some of the participants have already gone on to achieve significant success on the field of play, for example winning provincial school championships with the Diyarbakir badminton team and Şanliurfa basketball team.
Long-term commitment
Coaches play a big role in helping the girls achieve their dreams, too. They are carefully selected and work diligently to provide more than just sports training. They are also seen as mentors, providing guidance on life matters to the girls, and their impact is hugely positive, with students giving them an average score of 4.9 out of 5.
Those closely associated with Empowering Girls Through Sport have noticed positive physical and emotional developments in girls, and stress the importance of preserving the project for the children’s ongoing development.
“Imagine you plant a tree,” a coach explains. "You water it, nurture it and care for it over two years. If it doesn’t bear fruit, you might decide to cut it down. But what if it was meant to bear fruit in three years? By cutting it too soon, you prevent it from reaching its full potential. The same applies to this project - its continuation or discontinuation will profoundly impact the children."
The Turkish Olympic Committee is not only committed to its continuation but is actively looking to expand the programme in cities with similar demographics and challenges.
#SportForAllWomenAndGirls
Olympic Solidarity’s Olympic Values programme provides assistance to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to put in place initiatives that empower communities by allowing them to engage in and benefit from sport and Olympism, while creating conditions for athletes to thrive. They also build on the IOC’s Olympism365 strategy to enhance the contribution of sport within the framework of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
With the continued efforts of the IOC, NOCs, International Federations and Olympism365-driven programmes, more opportunities are being created every day for women and girls to engage in and benefit from sport.
Follow the conversation and discover more inspiring stories with #SportForAllWomenAndGirls.
