Three Lithuanian girls on the sports exchange display the ball that the group signed for Secretary Arne Duncan. Sports and education go hand-in-hand when creating opportunities for women, girls, and youth at home and abroad. The importance of these opportunities was highlighted when Secretary of Education Arne Duncan met with 24 female international participants in a State Department Empowering Women and Girls through Sports Initiative exchange program. This flagship multi-nation program took place in conjunction with the NCAA Women’s Final Four and tipped off in Knoxville at the University of Tennessee.

Due to the university’s academic and sports footprint in the state, Secretary Duncan—an avid basketball player himself—made a speech at the University of Tennessee’s Howard Baker Center. His remarks emphasized the vital role that teachers have in strong school systems; which resonated with the female coaches and teenagers participating in the program. Representing the Gulf Nations, Liberia, Lithuania, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Venezuela, they felt that his words applied universally and were particularly important to empowering women and girls around the world.

Coach Amii Weah of Liberia commented, “If you educate a woman, you educate the world. If you empower a woman, she empowers her children. Therefore when you empower a woman she can translate this to encourage other people.”

Coach Sammielyn Semino of the Philippines added, “…education does not just happen in a room. It is a continuous process of learning.” She stressed that sports practices are a means of continuing this process and holistically developing student athletes, particularly teenage girls.

Both the teenage girls from overseas and their American peers acknowledged that their coaches back in their home communities serve as teachers and role models. Actively engaging in sports provides youth a way to communicate with one another and seek guidance, both on the court and in the classroom.