#KnowHerName campaign highlights how Offiong Edem overcame poverty and teenage pregnancy to become the No. 1 tennis player in Nigeria
The #KnowHerName campaign to shine a light on women in sports and athletes.
The #KnowHerName campaign by Ladies in Sports International continues with a spotlight on Nigerian tennis star Offiong Edem who overcame poverty and teenage pregnancy to become a top table tennis player.
Born into poverty and being a mother at the age of 15, Edem talks about her rise from unfavourable conditions to become who she is in the recent video from the #KnowHerName campaign.
The 33-year-old in the video speaks of how she started playing table tennis at her grandmother’s dining table, not getting support when she first started and having a son at a very young age.
“I was still pushing until the breakthrough came when I won the Women’s Singles title,” she says.
“No matter where you are on the pathway of life, please don’t let your imperfect past hinder the glory of your future,” she also says.
Edem has won eight medals for Nigeria at the African Games and is currently the number one tennis player in Nigeria and second in Africa
The #KnowHerName campaign is an initiative of Ladies in Sports International, a platform that seeks to celebrate and improve women’s sports in Nigeria and beyond to shine a light on women in sports and athletes.
Despite women making up 40% of sports in Nigeria, they only get four per cent of sports media coverage.
To correct this shortage of media reportage, the Ladies in Sports International adopted the #KnowHerName campaign to direct focus towards women, as they continually shatter glass ceilings and aimed at increasing the popularity of women in sport and female athletes in Nigeria.
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