Bermuda’s female sports stars in the making were provided with inspiration at the Bermuda Olympic’s Association’s Girls in Sports symposium held on Friday.

In an initiative aimed at keeping young girls involved in sport, the island’s established sportswomen addressed the budding athletes in person and via Zoom at HSBC Front Street.

Footballers Jaden Masters, football referee Natasha Trott, Olympians Emma Harvey and Adriana Penruddocke, as well as the Paralympian duo of Jessica Lewis and Yushae DeSilva-Andrade were on the panel, with former elite cyclist Caitlyn Conyers leading the discussion before taking questions from the audience.

Keyandae Lightbourne, a member of the junior national football team who studies at Berkeley Institute, appreciated the opportunity to learn from the athletes.

“It was a good experience,” the 15-year-old said. “I’ve always been the person to talk to for people who are younger than me, so it’s nice to get more information from them to pass on to others.

“I just love that I have the opportunity to be around a bunch of other females and understand other perspectives. It definitely sets the standard to know where I could be, and that’s the level I want to be at. I want to be an athlete that competes at the highest level, so listening to them and the struggles they had, especially balancing school and sport when they were my age can really help me a lot.

“I understand the concerns about girls being lost from sport, but for me there’s a level of joy that comes with playing sport. I coach as well, so I’ve seen the love for football from young girls and they are willing to put away their phones when put in the space to be proactive.”

Lightbourne’s team-mate Cayli Dowling found the gathering motivating, as she seeks to play football at the top level.

“It’s inspiring because I can pick up stuff from what they said and do better to become just like them,” she said.

“This is something different. I've never been out like this before to do something that is out of my comfort zone. After this, I’ll definitely improve my skill and focus. I want to go as far as I can with my football career and I won’t give up until I get to the highest possible level.”

Triathlete Kelise Wade felt privileged to attend the symposium on behalf of female cyclists.

“I’m honoured to represent the females in the sport of cycling,’’ the 14-year-old said. “Those who addressed us tonight inspire me to keep on pushing even when times get tough.

“There will be a lot of times you feel like you have to give up, but they've taught me to just keep on pushing because when I fight through the pain, it'll get better.

“I want to continue pursuing my passion for running and cycling then see how far I go with triathlon. My wish is to go to the Olympics and I know it’s going to require a lot of effort from me to achieve that. I’ve to really push myself to keep on going further.”

Amaris Munya, who has represented Bermuda in tracks events at the Carifta Games, found the symposium captivating.

“It feels really inspirational because there are not a lot of women in Bermuda who stay in the sport for very long,” Munya said.

“It’s inspiring to see so many girls who are dedicated enough to try to pursue sport for a longer period. As someone who wants to go to the Olympics in future, I look up to most of these senior athletes.”

DeSilva-Andrade, who almost became Bermuda's first-ever Paralympics medal-winner after finishing fourth in the boccia competition in Paris, hopes to get more female athletes playing her sport.

The 31-year-old, who made her Paralympic debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, is ranked third in the world and first in the region.

“It’s really nice to get this opportunity to inspire young girls to be in sport,’’ DeSilva-Andrade said.

“In my sport there are not a lot of females so it would be awesome to get more of them into it. When I started in sport, I got exposed to a lot of different sports. I tried wheelchair basketball and it was fun but it wasn't the thing that I was passionate about.

“I then found boccia and they brought someone who spoke to us about the sport. I wish the girls could try out different sports as that should keep them motivated to continue exploring.”

Trott, a former footballer, bodybuilder and track athlete, became the first Bermudian female referee to officiate in a Concacaf tournament when she was the assistant referee in the Women’s Under-17 World Cup qualifying match between Curaçao and Belize in October 2021, and the 29-year-old was thrilled by the chance to share her story with up-and-coming athletes.

“I’m excited by this opportunity to speak to the future to serve as an inspiration to stay in sport,” Trott said.

“I hope I did enough to encourage them to take opportunities that come to them. Sometimes you plan the opportunity and sometimes it just shows up, like what happened to me.

“I was always around women in the US that played sports. That was really beneficial to me, seeing people excel in sporting careers was a motivation for me that I can be somebody There are so many benefits to being involved in sport that can help them in their day-to-day lives.

“I reminded the girls that their overall health is important. I don’t think the gadgets that young people spend most of their free time on can help them stay fit. They can show them the workouts, but they still have to be present physically to do the work and to stay mentally fit.”

“There’s so much that you can do once you become a referee if you decide that you don’t want to continue playing but still be a part of the sport.”