There’s never been a better time to be a girl in sport

On International Day of the Girl, we are celebrating the powerful role girls play in our families, communities, schools and sporting clubs.

We asked Sarah Syles, Director for the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, for one word that best describes this year’s theme ‘girls’ vision for the future.’

‘If I have one word for that vision, it is limitless,’ Styles said.

With the Office focusing on promoting progress toward gender equality, Sarah encouraged women and girls to be brave and seize any opportunities that come their way, whether in sports or other areas.

'If you see an opportunity to drive change, if you see an opportunity to grow, to overcome something that isn’t sitting right with you jump in there,’ she emphasised.

‘There’s never been a better time to be a girl in sport.’

Reflecting on her childhood, Sarah spoke to the pressure on girls to know what direction they wanted to take their careers in.

'Girls are always being asked what you want to be when you grow up, sometimes you’re lucky enough to know.’

‘For me I didn’t know what I wanted to be. But one thing that I came to realise was this idea that needing to know exactly what we want to do is hard.’

One piece of advice she gave was to follow your instincts and pursue your dreams, no matter how big or small.

‘If I think that about myself when I was younger, I’ve always been interested with social change and how you create opportunities. And unsurprisingly I’ve always been interested in sport. So even though I didn’t know what I wanted to do, over time what I could see were these red threads that kept going and ultimately this is what I do today.’

Whether you're passionate about sport or something else, the opportunities are out there — and it’s up to you to make the most of them. So, what will you do next to create your own path?