Girls’ Sports Day Promotes Health

Approximately 90 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade girls from across Boston had the run—literally—of Harvard Athletic facilities Saturday as part of the “Health and Sports Day” sponsored by Harvard Strong Women, Strong Girls (SWSG).

“The idea of Health and Sports Day is to introduce girls to healthy habits at an early age,” said Asya Troychansky ’07, events coordinator for SWSG. Troychansky, who is also a Crimson editor, said the event was organized in response to cuts in physical education in Boston public schools and to encourage girls to become involved with sports at an early age.

“Girls seem to have a lot more health problems down the road compared to boys particularly because they don’t get involved with physical activities when they’re young,” said Troychansky.

The day’s main activities consisted of four workshops on nutrition, yoga, body images, and track and tennis, as well as a panel and lunch.

Harvard students involved with the Girls’ FitNut program and Project HEALTH ran the workshop on nutrition, which emphasized the concept of balance in a healthy lifestyle. A makeshift scale was used to illustrate the need to balance the energy required for exercise and everyday activity with the energy provided by food.

In the yoga workshop, Deborah R. Cohen ’91, a yoga teacher, taught the girls exercises for energy and relaxation.

Some exercises were also intended to convey a sense of empowerment for the girls participating. “I am strong/I am bold/My own power/I can hold,” they recited during one.

In the body image workshop, the girls were taught that “a beautiful body is a healthy body,” according to SWSG’s workshop description, while in the sports workshop, Harvard athletes led the girls in hands-on exercises in track and tennis.

A panel of female Harvard athletes also spoke to the girls and answered their questions on a variety of subjects. In a previous activity sponsored by SWSG, the girls read biographies of the panelists.

“We framed them as being celebrities,” said Troychansky.

Panelist Ashley K. Antony ’06, a co-captain for the women’s varsity lightweight crew team, came to answer the girls’ questions about sports.

“I hope I’ve been able to get across the point that just because you’re a woman, doesn’t mean you can’t be strong,” said Antony, as girls came up to her after the panel for hugs and autographs.

In the panel, the students answered questions from the girls ranging on topics from overcoming shyness when first starting sports to the athletes’ favorite colors.

“It’s really surprising just how many girls don’t have the opportunity to experience [athletic opportunities],” said Lisa A. Carlson ’06, a volunteer with SWSG. “The track is definitely something new for them,” she said, as numerous girls raced each other around the Gordon track during lunch.

Jamia, an eight-year-old from South Boston, found the event enjoyable and said she that she learned a lot.

“I learned that you should help one another and stick to what you’re doing and don’t give up,” she said.

The majority of the girls who attended the event were involved in the SWSG program, though a few also came from the FitNut program.

SWSG was founded in 2001 by then-Harvard freshman Lindsay N. Hyde ’04 and has since grown to include about 35 undergraduate women volunteers and over 110 girls from the Boston area. The program works with girls in grades three through five to develop self-esteem and leadership in preparation for adolescence and uses biographies of current and historic female role models, skill-building activities, and mentoring to accomplish those goals according to SWSG’s press release for the event.

Since Hyde founded SWSG in 2001, the program has grown into a national group that has established chapters at Carnegie Mellon University, Northeastern University, and Simmons College, according to the national SWSG website.