Given the right opportunity and encouragement, young women can find their stride and accomplish great things both within and outside the field of competition.

An event to help empower young women through sport is coming up on October 22 at the Pacific Institute for Sport Excellence (PISE) in Saanich. Fast and Female Champ Chat will bring together a group of sport ambassadors to engage and chat with girls age eight to 18. One of the organizers is track athlete Mariah Kelley, a hopeful for Canada at the 2020 Tokyo, Japan Olympic Games in middle distance running. She says sport challenges people in so many ways and the Fast and Female event will expose girls to activities and discussions about the athletesB次元官网网址� experiences both in sport and in life.

Kelly will be joined at the event by Canadian athletes from the Victoria area, like Jamie Broder who participated in beach volleyball at the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, track athlete and UVic alum Rachel Francois and Jessica Furlan, CanadaB次元官网网址檚 record holder in the 3000 metre steeplechase.

The Saanich PeninsulaB次元官网网址檚 own Casey Atkin will also be there B次元官网网址� the StellyB次元官网网址檚 Secondary grad is a track athlete, competing in various distances, including the 800 meters. Atkin is currently part of Athletics CanadaB次元官网网址檚 NextGen program, working with young athletes to reach the podium at various national and international competitions.

These days, Atkin said sheB次元官网网址檚 training seven days a week, twice a day, to help her reach her goals. ItB次元官网网址檚 this kind of perseverance and dedication that she credits for her successes B次元官网网址� and for helping her face challenges in life as well.

B次元官网网址淭aking part in (Fast and Female) is my way of trying to give something back,B次元官网网址� Atkin said, B次元官网网址淎nd for all of us, for all of the opportunity that we got in our careers.B次元官网网址�

Fast and Female, founded in 2005 by Canadian cross country skier and Olympic gold medalist Chandra Crawford, will be a day of physical activity, yoga, autographs and an inspirational chat with the ambassadors. ItB次元官网网址檚 overall goal is to change a trend that sees girls quitting sport at a much higher rate than boys in their early teens.

B次元官网网址淲e often learn that life isnB次元官网网址檛 always easy,B次元官网网址� Kelly said. B次元官网网址淚 feel that for me, track and field has been the greatest teacher of perseverance and how to never give up in order to reach the goal that I set for myself.B次元官网网址�

ItB次元官网网址檚 that lesson she said they hope to teach young women. And while they hope to attract potential athletes to take their sport to the next level, Kelly said itB次元官网网址檚 also a way to instill lessons that can last a lifetime B次元官网网址� even when a career in competitive sport has ended.

B次元官网网址淥ur goal is to empower women to not be afraid to dream big,B次元官网网址� Kelly said. B次元官网网址淲omen are capable of doing so many great things.B次元官网网址�

Fast and Female takes place Oct. 22 at PISE from 12 to 3 p.m. To register, visit fastandfemale.com.

editor@peninsulanewsreview.com