Coaches matter in a girls’ sport experience, and that message was emphasized throughout the five-year celebration of Play Academy with Naomi Osaka.
First launched in Tokyo in 2020, Play Academy’s global partners, stakeholders, supporters and of course, coaches came back to where it all began for the Coach the Dream: Changing Sport for Girls summit, co-hosted by Laureus Sport for Good and Nike.
The multi-day event featured coach trainings; discussions among experts and athletes; and a day of play for 40 girls from the local community, who were also treated to a special surprise visit from multi-Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and five-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Missy Franklin Johnson.
“Play Academy aims to change girls’ lives through play and sport, and we can’t do that without great coaches”
– Naomi Osaka
Five years ago, Osaka teamed with Laureus Sport for Good and Nike to kick off Play Academy in her birth country with the aspiration to level the playing field for girls through positive sport experiences.
It started by providing grants to three Tokyo-based grassroots programs. The initiative expanded throughout Tokyo, and into Haiti, Los Angeles and another Japanese city, Osaka — all places close to the tennis champion’s heart. Apart from funding, Play Academy also provided grantees with trainings on safeguarding and gender-inclusivity, and launched a Coaching Network Program in Japan in 2023.
October’s summit was not only a milestone for Play Academy, but for Japan.
“Never before has Japan seen such an event of this scale, gathering local and global voices to raise awareness and take further action on changing the future of sport for girls,” said Miki Morimoto, Nike Senior Director, Social & Community Impact, Asia Pacific. “In five days, we trained coaches in Japan and from Asia Pacific on how girls can express themselves through sport, and we delivered a fun-filled sport experience for girls – and what an unforgettable way to do that with female role models like Naomi and Missy.”
In the weeks leading up to the summit, the US-based Center for Healing and Justice Through Sport (CHJS) trained 15 sport leaders from Japan, South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia to become a ‘Master Coach.’ On the last day of the summit, the Master Coaches then led their own session with 50 coaches from Play Academy Japan-based programs and around the local community on trauma-informed coaching to provide girls in Japan greater access to play and sport.
To further aid the coaches, Laureus Sport for Good and Nike also unveiled the Japanese Coaching Guide for Girls during the summit. The guide is designed specifically for coaches in Japan to help change the sport environment and experience for girls.
Laureus Academy member Franklin Johnson shared: “That’s one of the reasons I’m so excited about what we’ve done here. We’re trying to support the support systems. That means supporting the coaches, parents, and helping the other integral people in a child’s life understand how they can encourage that child. And how they can provide them with those opportunities and make them feel that they’re in their corner, through all the ups and downs.”
Hundreds of summit attendees heard directly from girls and female sport leaders as well as Play Academy coaches from Los Angeles, Haiti and Japan who presented how their programs are using sport to change girls’ lives.
“In 2022, I witnessed the early impact of Play Academy by spending time with the girls we support in Los Angeles and Tokyo. On today’s visit, happily back in Tokyo again, I’m overwhelmed to see how far we’ve come. This time together with the young girls who are participants in Play Academy and the local community reinforces why sport is so important for them, why we need to continue this work, and why we can’t do it alone.”
– Naomi Osaka
