Alex Morgan joins #LikeAGirl campaign to keep girls in sports
Soccer star Alex Morgan may be a World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist, but she doesn't always feel confident on and off the field.
That's why, Morgan tells Mashable, she can relate to the latest video in Always' popular #LikeAGirl campaign. The minute-long clip shows girls competing in sports like rugby, boxing and basketball. They talk about facing gender stereotypes and how that can lead to second-guessing themselves.
Though Morgan, a forward for the U.S. women's soccer team, doesn't make an appearance in the video, she officially partnered with the #LikeAGirl campaign to share its message to young girls who might think of quitting athletics.
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"I want girls to feel encouraged by my story."
"When I was younger, I didn’t necessarily always feel accepted on a soccer field because it was supposed to be boys," she says. "I want girls to feel encouraged by my story."
The personal care brand Always launched #LikeAGirl in 2014, with a an emotional video that's since been watched 61 million times. In another video released earlier this year, the campaign took on emojis that confine girls to stereotypical interests.
The latest clip, which was shot in England, draws on data from a survey conducted earlier this year on behalf of Always.
The survey polled 1,006 American women between the ages of 16 and 24 and found that half of the respondents quit sports by the end of puberty, and seven out of 10 of them stopped playing because they didn’t feel they belonged.
The #LikeAGirl campaign aims to reverse that trend by focusing on the benefits of competing and highlighting positive images of young girls in sports. The survey found that nearly two-thirds of the respondents who continued playing had increased confidence and leadership skills.
Morgan wants more girls to enjoy these benefits. She has simple advice for those grappling with feelings of self-doubt as they try to compete at the highest levels of their sport.
"What I would tell a girl is that she needs to give one hundred percent and sometimes it’s going to be harder than other days," Morgan says. "But one day at a time to improve on something is all you can ask of yourself."
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Topics Gender Social Good
Rebecca Ruiz is a Senior Reporter at Mashable. She frequently covers mental health, digital culture, and technology. Her areas of expertise include suicide prevention, screen use and mental health, parenting, youth well-being, and meditation and mindfulness. Rebecca's experience prior to Mashable includes working as a staff writer, reporter, and editor at NBC News Digital and as a staff writer at Forbes. Rebecca has a B.A. from Sarah Lawrence College and a masters degree from U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism.
