“Because of sport, I can influence other girls to take part.”

To mark the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace on 6th April, Sport in Action has launched the “Because of sport” campaign to highlight the impact of sport on the development of participants and leaders across our programmes.

We spoke to Lilian, a netball and football Peer Leader at Fountain of Hope.

“I have been playing sport for four years. My father encouraged me to get involved in sport, and I started doing it to stay healthy and get to know different people.

I like sport because it keeps me healthy, I can have fun doing it and we learn how to work as a team through it. Sport has helped me to be social, respectful and has given me self confidence. I’ve also learned how to take care of myself through the sport sessions and the Girls in Action sessions we have after training.

I want to complete my education – I have been able to go back to school because of the school support programme, which would not have been possible if I wasn’t playing sport. I want to continue to play sport in the future.

Because of sport, I can implement what I have learned to other participants and I am able to influence other girls to take part in sport.”