An enthusiastic crowd of excited young Moroccans welcomed several sporting legends during their visit to a ground-breaking project for women. Inas Mazhar reports from Casablanca 'Run for Life' is an innovative programme which focuses on promoting and developing sports among teenage girls, enabling them to increase their confidence and independence and fight against gender inequality. Members of the Laureus Academy, one of its sponsors, met participants and teachers from the project. Nawal Al-Moutawakel, the first African and Arab woman to win an Olympic gold medal, the 400 metre hurdles in Los Angeles in 1984, has championed women's rights in Morocco and has been a leading supporter of the project. "While there has been great progress in Morocco to improve women's rights, there is still a lot of work to do and projects like Run for Life are critically important in addressing the problem where it can do the most good -- with young girls at school," Al-Moutawakel said. "If we can break the mold that inhibits so many young people, we can make a profound change both in my country and around the world. I am especially pleased that my Laureus Academy colleagues Marvin Hagler and Daley Thompson have been able to come here today to see the work that is being done and to offer their support," she added. American boxing legend Marvelous Marvin Hagler and British decathlon star Thompson joined the girls at the Run for Life in various sporting and cultural activities at the Imam Muslim School. The activities included Moroccan dances, rugby and tug of war. "Young children, boys and girls, should have the same equal opportunity in life. This is a perfect example of how sport can be used as a means to break down barriers and help give youngsters a real chance to improve their situation," said double Olympic champion Thompson. "I am especially looking forward to the Run for Fun women's race," Thompson added. "This is a fantastic event which has played a significant part in changing perceptions in Morocco about the role of women in society." Former world middleweight champion Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who is the newest member of the Laureus Academy, having been elected at the Laureus World Sports Awards in Barcelona last month, admitted he was delighted to be a Laureus Academy member and that he was looking forward to working with so many legendary sports stars to help underprivileged young people. "The Sport for Good Foundation has done incredible work over many years and it is great to be able to come to Morocco and see for myself," Hagler said. The Moroccan Sport and Development Association, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Regional Ministry of National Education jointly launched the Run for Life project which focuses on actively encouraging rural Moroccan girls to take part in sport. The objective is to increase the confidence and independence of the girls through sporting activities and workshops so that they have the resources to continue their education rather than following the traditional pattern of leaving school early and undergoing arranged marriages. A pilot version of the project began in January 2007, targeting six schools and involving 180 girls. The girls, aged 12 to 15, took part in a programme that consisted of five and a half hours per week of sporting and citizenship activities, covering issues such as women's health, women's hygiene and nutrition. The culmination of the scheme comes when girls from the project compete in the Run for Fun race. Following the completion of the pilot scheme, the full project is to be launched by the Moroccan Sport and Development Association which will train teachers to administer sport and life-skills activities in schools. The project will run for 10 months each year during which fitness and physical agility are promoted. Equally important are the life-skills of teamwork, independence and self- determination that the project gives to girls who participate. In total it is estimated that the project could impact the lives of as many as 20,000 girls over three years. The mission of the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is to utilise the power of sport to address social challenges through a worldwide programme of sports related community development initiatives. The foundation, which supports almost 50 projects worldwide, has improved the lives of over 150,000 children through its global foundation and a growing network of seven subsidiary foundations in Argentina, France, Germany, Italy, South Africa, Spain and the US. Its work focuses on helping young people overcome poverty, homelessness, war, violence, drugs abuse, discrimination and AIDS. Laureus' patron is Nelson Mandela who said "sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire. It has the power to unite people in a way that little else does. Sport can awaken hope where there was previously only despair." This has become the philosophy of Laureus, the driving force behind its work. Laureus is a universal movement that celebrates the power of sport to bring people together as a force for good. Laureus is composed of three core elements -- the Laureus World Sports Academy, the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation and the Laureus World Sports Awards. Collectively they celebrate sporting excellence and harness the power of sport to promote social change. The members of the Laureus World Sports Academy are: Giacomo Agostini, Marcus Allen, Severiano Ballesteros, Franz Beckenbauer, Boris Becker, Ian Botham, Sergy Bubka, Bobby Charlton, Sebastian Coe, Nadia Comaneci, Yaping Deng, Marcel Desailly, Kapil Dev, David Douillet, Emerspn Fittipaldi, Sean Fitzpatrick, Dawn Fraser, Tanni Grey-Thompson, Marvin Hagler, Tony Hawk, Mike Horn, Miguel Indurian, Michael Johnson, Michael Jordan, Kip Keino, Franz Klammer, Dan Marino, John McEnroe, Edwin Moses (chairman), Nawal Al-Moutawakel, Robby Naish, llie Nastase, Martina Navratilova, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Morne du Plessis, Hugo Porta, Vivian Richards, Monica Seles, Mark Spitz, Daley Thompson, Alberto Tomba, Steve Waugh, Katarina Wit and Yashurio Yamashita. The Laureus academy members volunteer their services as global ambassadors for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation, which was set up to promote the use of sport as a tool of social change. The foundation addresses social challenges through a worldwide programme of sports related community development initiatives. The Laureus World Sports Awards is the premier global sports awards honouring the greatest sportsmen and women across all sports each year. The winners are selected by the ultimate sports jury -- the 45 members of the Laureus Academy, the living legends of sport honouring the great athletes of today. The awards are presented at an annual ceremony attended by global figures from sport, entertainment, business and fashion. It is broadcast to 190 countries and territories each year. Laureus is supported by its founding patrons DaimlerChrysler and Richemont represented by their brands Mercedes-Benz and IWC.
