Readour Stories

As a child, Alejandra grew up watching her dad rise before the sun to lace up his shoes and run in Lima’s early morning mists. An attorney and a marathon runner who competed in New York City and around the Andes, he also started a running club in 1984. He called it Peru Runners, and it rested

In the winter of 1982, a 4-year-old girl sat enthralled in front of India’s first sports broadcast in color—Delhi’s 9th Asian Games. “For as long as I can remember,” says Aparna Popat, “I was always able to concentrate for long periods of time and was stubborn enough to persevere until a task was finished perfectly.” The task

Born and raised in Bolivia, Carmen “Piña” Pozo developed a passion for sports at a young age. When she was 11 years old, she began participating in track & field and volleyball. Every day she was either practicing or competing as a part of her city’s teams, and through both sports developed valuable life skills, such

As a shy little girl in the rural village of Haute-Rivoire, France, Carole Ponchon was never known to have a teddy bear that she loved to bits, preferring instead to take a soccer ball to bed with her. From a very young age, she had her heart set on getting onto the soccer field, though there was

The Francophone Taekwondo World Cup witnessed the rise of a champion. It was a match between 14-year-old Caroline Maher from Egypt and the 20-year-old reigning world champion from the Philippines. Since she was the youngest player in the Championship, as well as the entire federation, there were minimal expectations from coaches and fans. Caroline didn’t come

Cecilia Vales dreams of every girl in Mexico going to college to broaden their opportunities, and she is determined to knock down the barriers that stand in their way. She believes that access to sport is the gateway to education and the means through which girls can achieve their dreams. Encouraging more girls to play sports is

As a little girl growing up in Venezuela, Claudia Contreras spent weekends at the park with her dad, brother, and a ball. The sports landscape was traditionally dominated by men, but she ran, swam, climbed, and played volleyball and basketball. “The stereotype is,” she says, “that boys are supposed to be stronger and faster—that sports are

As a woman in Albania’s sports arena, Denisa Bishqemi has spent years surrounded by men, but she recognizes the need for Albania’s women to get off the sidelines, and the potential they have to change the game forever. “I want to invest in myself and invest in my country on behalf of all women,” she says.

When Grace Chirumanzu was a little girl, there was no such thing as female sports journalists in Zimbabwe, but that didn’t stop her from dreaming of one day becoming a renowned sports reporter. “My superpower has always been dreaming ‘the impossible,’” she says. Grace draws inspiration from how hard her parents worked to give their family

In junior high, Hanna became interested in soccer. She didn’t have a lot of opportunities to play herself, so she watched it on television and became enthralled. In 1994, the World Cup took place in the United States, on the opposite side of the world and in a different time zone. Her parents had forbidden Hanna

Born and raised in Budapest, Hungary, sport became a way of life for Ildikó Mihók. Today, Ildikó, or “Ildi”, practices functional training three times a week and is an avid runner. Physical activity has been a gift for Ildi, and allows her a chance to leave the daily stress behind, and reconnect with her body.  Sport

Júlia had a job as an analyst in the largest bank in Latin America, and she was advancing in her career only three years into the job. The opportunities for growth and development in this field were numerous, but her heart was somewhere else. Her heart was on the soccer pitch. While working at the bank, Júlia