Here at Sevenoaks Mums we were recently contacted by local resident Mollie Longhurst, who was keen to tell us about a new, exciting global initiative that she has become involved in, that began right here in Sevenoaks… This Girl Kicks! We loved hearing more about the initiative and asked how we could help. Have a read below to find out how you, your children and their schools and clubs can get involved.
1. What is This Girl Kicks and how did it start?
This Girl Kicks is a platform to encourage female engagement in sport and raise the visibility of women in sport by encouraging participation at any level. Our aim is also to promote equality and to highlight achievements whilst supporting the mental health of women in sport.
It all started as a programme called: ‘Girls Who Kick’ within Taekwon-Do, to promote women and girls in this martial art and encourage their participation. The founder, Carly Wilson had a vision to expand Girls Who Kick (GWK) to include all sports and from there ‘This Girl Kicks’ was launched, appropriately on International Women’s Day this year (8th March 2021).
2. How did you get involved? Is there a team behind it?
My mum was an ambassador of GWK, working with Carly and other ambassadors to promote women in Taekwon-Do. Through her, I also got involved, helping at seminars, doing the social media and over lockdown, I ran Zoom sessions for the programme. Carly talked to us about her vision for expanding and both my mum and I were keen to be involved in ‘This Girl Kicks’. Another of the original ambassadors: Zorica Bowie, has also joined us.
3. How would you like to see This Girl Kicks grow and evolve?
We’re starting by highlighting individual women’s achievements across a range of sports and using local contacts to promote the organisation. We want to develop a sense of community with TGK and feel the best way to start out is at a local level. At the same time, we are encouraging people to engage in our social media, using the #thisgirlkicks to grow our base, both nationally and internationally. We are hoping that TGK becomes a platform that gives all women and girls a voice in sport, highlights issues of inequality and encourages participation.
4. How would you like to see the Sevenoaks Mums community to get behind This Girl Kicks?
Being very local to Sevenoaks and also teaching Taekwon-Do here, I feel starting local and supporting our local clubs is a great way to build a community around TGK. We are hoping the Sevenoaks Mums community can help get the word out to local clubs and schools about our aims and help spread the awareness. We are also looking for future elite sports women, by using our network of current and former sports women, to speak with your children and inspire the next generation of women. We also would like to run events and classes that not only inspire, but increase girls self-esteem, confidence, and awareness through as an example, self-defence classes, taught by women for women and girls.
5. Can schools/clubs get involved and how?
Schools and clubs can definitely get involved by tagging us in posts on Instagram so we can repost and by sending us stories about individuals you think we should share. They can also use #thisgirlkicks to spread the word. Sending us feedback on the types of classes we could run at their school or club from our growing list of coaches and instructors would also support both TGK and the school/club. We have been running digital and face to face events for the last two years and look forward to growing This Girl Kicks community with Sevenoaks Mums.
If you want to find out more about This Girl Kicks, please visit their website or email [email protected].
