Paris, 12-15 March 2019 – The inaugural She Runs - Active Girls' Lead, the first international school event to promote girls' health, gender equality and leadership through school sport, took place in Paris, France, from March 12-15, welcoming 500 young women from 33 countries and four continents.
The highlight of the event was the She Runs La Lyceenne run on March 13 with 2000 young girls running for their rights on the banks of the River Seine in the centre of Paris.
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The programme was developed by the International School Sport Federation (ISF) with the support of the European Commission (Erasmus + Sport Programme).
500 young women, aged 15 – 18, from 33 countries embraced the opportunity to engage in a 4 day event offering educational activities on topics of sport, culture, inspiration, leadership, entrepreneurship and gender equality.
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500 international participants took on a treasure hunt around Paris to explore its history, follow the footsteps of iconic French women and discover the sport sites of the 2024 Olympic Games.
Day one was fully dedicated to culture and education through teamwork and cultural diversity. The Scavenger Hunt was an educational activity which included several tasks to challenge the girls to work together and explore the culture and the history of the She Runs host city.
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The highlight of the event was the She Runs La Lyceenne run on March 13 with 2000 young girls running for their rights on the banks of the River Seine in the centre of Paris.
500 international participants of She Runs - Active Girls' Lead joined 1500 girl students of La Lyceenne for a symbolic run of 3 km.
Participants were welcomed by Laurent Petrynka, the President of ISF, Yves Le Lostecque, Head of the Sport Unit at European Commission, Bogdan Matei, Minister of Youth & Sports of Romania and Nathalie Costantini, National Director of UNSS (French School Sport Federation).
ISF Executive Committee members who were present at the She Runs – Active Girls’ and opened the Runs were; Hrvoje Čustonja, Secretary General / CEO of ISF, Nicos Megalemos, ISF president Europe, Josip Kosutić, ISF Sport Director, ISF assessors Roman Greba, Alan Abaev, Joao Graça, Julia Boyanova and Cristina Branzoi, and the ISF family Tom Christensen, Nevena Vukasinovic, Pamela Burrage and Stelios Daskalakis.
The Village welcomed the girls with various fun activities. The participants had a chance to try new sports, learn about the sustainable sport, join the concert, make new friends and fully embrace the day dedicated to girls, their rights and girls’ sport only.
She Runs sponsor VinylPlus added the sustainability aspect to the event, making sure the participants recognised the importance of sustainable sport and the Environmental Action.
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Palais Brongniart hosted the iconic sportswomen, Paula Radcliffe, Valentina Marchei, Brigitta Kervinen and Laurence Fischer, and 500 international She Runs participants eager to hear the inspirational stories of the She Runs Talk speakers.
The third phase of the She Runs - Active Girls' Lead added the inspirational aspect to the event with a Talk moderated by Sandy Heribert.
The She Runs participants had the opportunity the hear the stories of Valentina Marchei, Olympian in ice skating, Brigitta Kervinen, the 2017 winner of the IOC Women and Sport World awards, Paula Radcliffe, World record holder in marathon and fastest women's marathoner in history and Laurence Fischer, World champion in karate and the founder of NGO Fight for Dignity.
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On the last day of She Runs Active Girls' Lead, the participants had a chance to learn innovative methods to design and carry out projects addressing physical inactivity.
Hosted by Ignited Kingdom, the largest start up campus Station F welcomed 40 girls from She Runs-Active Girls' Lead project (selected by the ISF several months prior). With the support of the Sprint Masters, the girls developed simple and tangible ideas to promote physical activity for girls/women in their local communities.
With Design Sprint She Runs participants designed their own projects and addressed the major obstacles preventing young girls to engage themselves into physical activities. They were provided with the official She Runs Active Girls' Lead workbook which will help them implement their project ideas into their home communities.
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On behalf of ISF we would like to thank Erasmus+ Sport programme and the European Commission for its support in helping to deliver a ground project welcoming 500 girls from 35 countries and using sport as an education for equality, health and empowerment.
Special thanks go to She Runs sponsor VinylPlus in adding the sustainability aspect to the event, making sure the partcipants recgonise the importance of sustainable sport and Enviromental Action.
