Island athletes encourage girls to pursue professional sports

Two Island athletes who've pursued their sports to the international stage took part in 'Play Hard, Train Harder' Tuesday in Summerside, P.E.I., an event aimed at encouraging girls ages 10 to 16 to stick with sports.

Island rower Emily Cameron, a silver medalist from the 2013 World Championships said she wanted to let the participants know what it is like to be a pro athlete.

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"Give them sort of inside perspective on what it's like to be a high performance athlete, what it's like to be a full time athlete, and give them a taste of some of the training we do, the activities we do, and give them a chance to ask questions," said Cameron.

"I think it's great, honestly, I think it's one of those things we need to do, I think we need to start getting young girls interested and active in sport, and in life."

Shannon MacAulay, a hockey player who played for the Canada under 18 team agreed.

"Sports opened many doors for me, both personally and professionally."

Both women are Ambassadors for KidSport, and said they hoped the event would inspire young Island girls to see professional sports as attainable.

The day included a yoga class and a goal setting session. Girls were given an inside perspective on the life of a professional athlete in the hopes of inspiring the next generation to work hard to make their dreams a reality.

Cameron, who recently retired from rowing said, "I remember when I was a young kid, watching the Olympics in the 90's, I remember what it was like to have that naivety about what was possible, and realizing as I became an adult that maybe some of that was possible, so it's kind of neat to watch them."

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