Impact Report - 2025 DRAFT-2 - Flipbook - Page 28
GRACE LOUGHLIN WANTS TO CHANGE THE
GAME FOR GIRLS IN NORTHERN IRELAND
Grace Loughlin didn't grow up with many
athletic options. "Here in school, you're
brought up in certain sports," she says. "The
girls will always do netball." PeacePlayers
introduced her to basketball and a world of
new possibilities. "I was just like, 'Whoa,
there's stuff outside of these gender-norm
sports.'" But barriers persisted: at a community
tournament, 17-year-old Grace was placed in
an under-15 bracket simply because she was
a girl. "People really don't see women in these
roles," she says.
Statistics reinforced her resolve: 1 in 5 Irish
girls drop out of sport before the end of
primary school, compared to 1 in 20 boys.
"Girls aren't seeing the opportunities that they
have." Traveling to Detroit for the 2025
Friendship Games, she watched girls from the
U.S., Middle East, and South Africa play
fearlessly. "They weren't embarrassed to make
mistakes," she remembers. Grace came home
with a vision: a week-long camp where girls
from across Belfast try every sport available,
"because I feel like that would really bring out
girls' competitive side. I feel like that would
give girls the opportunity to play rugby and be
like, oh, 'I actually really like this game.'"
27
VOICES FROM THE COURT
