Readour Stories

Karen Chammas wanted to quit judo many times. She started on the mat at the age of four, but as she got older, she could hear what people were saying about a girl trying to excel in martial arts. “Growing up,” she says, “the main reason I didn’t want to continue judo was because of the negative

When you ask about Ana Cristina Branco at the Clube Atlético Mineiro, one of the most supported professional soccer clubs in Brazil, nobody knows who she is. If you add the fact that she’s a soccer reporter, then people smile and say “Kika!”  Kika has been an avid soccer fan since her childhood, born into a

Poverty lurks in the shanty towns of Argentina, threatening the physical and emotional well-being of many people. Yes, children who live in these neighborhoods have inadequate means and resources, but Luz Amachastegui saw more missing. She saw in their faces a lack of hope, self-esteem, opportunities, and role models. That’s when she sprang into action. Luz

Beach volleyball conjures up images of sand, sun, and the sea. As a landlocked country in the heart of South America, Bolivia is an unlikely place to find a beach volleyball star such as Maira Coll. So, how did Maira become a world champion in a country without sand? “I believe in the things that Bolivian women

Majidah Nantanda grew up with four brothers, believing as a child that she was a boy, too, with all the same rights and privileges. She spent long hours outside with her siblings, testing their skills in friendly soccer matches against the other boys in the neighborhood, but it was Majidah who stood out. She became so skillful

From the time she was five years old, Naoual Zaaraoui accompanied her father to the track, determined to learn his every move. Known simply as El Ghazi, or “The Fast Horse” in Morocco, he ran the 3000 meter steeplechase in the 1964 Olympics, is a 7-time world champion and a sports icon who accomplished many firsts

Growing up in Brazil, Paula Korsakas always loved sports. Her very first memories are of playing volleyball, handball, basketball and tennis in the garden with her siblings. When they didn’t have the proper equipment, they would fashion it from items around the house: makeshift nets, bases, hoops, bats, and racquets. Her parents were also very active,

Samar Khan was born and raised in a modest, conservative family in a small village in Dir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Life for women from her region usually consisted of getting married to a man of their parents’ choosing while in high school or shortly after graduating. As a child she longed to pursue martial arts, but

Twin sisters, Tashi and Nungshi Malik, have been climbing mountains since the age of 18. They have dedicated themselves to achieving physical and mental feats that are out of the imagination for the ordinary. The world record they set as the first female twins to climb Mount Everest on May 19, 2013, was only the first

The slums of Kibera in Kenya are not for the faint of heart. Many of its one million inhabitants live on less than one dollar a day, navigate sewage running freely in the streets, and spend the nights of the rainy season trying to stay dry in the shanties that fail to provide even the most basic