Chris Shelton is a professor of exercise and sport studies at Smith College.  She’s also a representative for the Americas for the International Working Group on Women and Sport. 

Chris says that today more girls than ever are interested in a whole range of sports.  Whether you go to the barrios in Mexico where girls are playing soccer or the outskirts of Bogotá, where women are rock climbing, women and girls are playing sports at record numbers. 

Bu in many developing countries there are still many barriers that keep girls and women from being physically active. And that needs to change, Chris says, because when it comes to young girls, sports have so many benefits.