03/25/2026
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We conducted conversations with coaches and young female athletes across Istanbul to map how access, infrastructure, and culture influence participation.
The insight: development is not just driven by talent but by the consistency of opportunity and family support systems.
Participation isn’t just about desire. It’s shaped by access.
In a city as vast as Istanbul where distance alone can determine consistency not all players start from the same place.
Some girls train weekly: structured, supported, seen.
Others find moments where they can: between school, space, and permission.
Across the city, boys’ pathways are clearer. More fields. More time. More visibility. Girls navigate what’s left: adapting, negotiating, finding ways in.
Same ambition.
Different realities.
The gap isn’t talent.
It’s opportunity.
Research: .co
Photos by:
