Nike promotes girls' access to sport in Japan with new guide and training for youth coaches

Nike and Laureus Sport for Good are launching a new, research-backed coaching guide designed specifically for coaches in Japan, marking the brand's latest commitment to removing barriers to play and sport for girls.

The guide aims to provide coaches with the skills and knowledge to create a more inclusive and supportive environment for girls in sport by shifting the social and cultural mindset around the critical role movement plays in girls' development and mental health.

The guide has already received support from the Yomiuri Giants professional baseball team, the Japan Basketball Association and other local sports organisations and institutes.

"As a leading female baseball team in Japan, we believe in the importance of coaching development and training", says Toru Kunimatsu, representative director and president of the Yomiuri Giants. "We feel the urge to change the environment around girls in sport, starting with baseball. The toolkit will help spread the awareness of gender-biased barriers girls face and provide a safe and secure environment for all girls in sport. Overall, we believe that this will contribute to the future of youth sport in Japan".

As a brand founded by a coach and an athlete, Nike knows how critical coaches are to inspiring a lifelong love of sport and helping youth achieve their greatest potential. With only one in five kids globally getting the physical activity they need to thrive, and unique cultural barriers keeping girls on the sidelines, the brand is dedicated to helping coaches inspire the next generation to get—and stay—involved in sport.

This work is especially important in Japan, which ranks 118th out of 146 countries (last among advanced economies) when it comes to gender parity, according to the Global Gender Gap Report 2024.

"Japan holds a special place in Nike's history, with a relationship spanning more than 50 years. In that time, we have seen tremendous progress for women in sport, but we know girls continue to face barriers to participation", says Vanessa Garcia-Brito, VP, chief impact officer, NIKE, Inc. "That's why we've partnered with Laureus Sport for Good to spark even greater change and ensure all youth, especially girls, feel welcomed and supported".

To that end, Nike has recently convened Coach the Dream summits in Tokyo, Paris and at its World Headquarters in Oregon—gathering partners, coaching experts and community leaders to power the future of youth sport and the next chapter of inclusive youth sports coaching.

The Tokyo event, hosted in partnership with Laureus Sport for Good from 16–20 October, was the largest of its kind ever held in Japan. Coach trainers from the Center for Healing & Justice Through Sport trained 50 local sports leaders on the new coaching guide and trauma-informed coaching practices to provide girls in Japan with greater access to play and sport experiences that are healing-centred and inclusive.

The Coach the Dream summits mirror Nike's work with more than 100 global organisations to give kids the opportunity to access and benefit from play and sport.

One of those organisations is Play Academy with Naomi Osaka, which launched in Tokyo five years ago and has since expanded to Los Angeles, Haiti and Osaka, Japan.

The tennis icon says quality coaches are central to the success of her namesake programme, which aims to ensure women and girls have personal agency to be themselves and build their own future.

"Play Academy aims to change girls' lives through play and sport, and we can't do that without great coaches", Osaka says. "It's been a joy to work alongside Nike to inspire the next generation to reach their potential through the power of movement".

Nike's efforts to serve the next generation of athletes also extends to a playbook the brand published in partnership with France's National Sports Agency through their Team Go Girls initiative this summer, which provides organisations across the country with helpful guidance in removing barriers that girls face when accessing sport.

Further, Nike partnered with Dove in 2023 to launch Body Confident Sport, a first-of-its-kind, scientifically proven set of tools for coaching 11- to 17-year-old girls that will help build their body confidence and make them feel like sport is a place where they belong. The brand also developed a digital resource, Coaching HER, in partnership with the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport at the University of Minnesota, that tackles a central issue in youth sports that negatively impacts girls' experiences: when coaches show unconscious gender biases and stereotypes.