International Women’s Day: Lao Kang

I have been very fortunate to have been hired by the Lao Rugby Federation to support rugby development and work full time for rugby. ?˜I also have been selected for the Lao Women's National Team and recently won the Athletes in Excellence Award by the Global Sports Development Foundation. ?˜The Lao Rugby Federation supported me to share these messages with my community in Nonghet and many girls ask me how they can also travel and do the things that I have gotten to do for rugby. ?˜As we train more and more female coaches and referees (over 60 now!) we see that young girls can aspire to be like these role models and try to make choices for their lives to lead them to travel and be a strong player, coach, or referee.?˜

Also, as we started to offer the leadership opportunities for young girls, we were able to keep them more engaged for longer. ?˜Still many leave at 14 or 15 to get married, but more are starting to think and see the opportunities of rugby and speaking with their families and husbands about delaying marriage or child birth to be able to participate. ?˜Also with first aid skills and other life skills being offered, many girls see rugby as a chance to improve their futures toward going to school or getting a good job later."

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