She cried after being told 'girls can't play football' — but her Mom intervened with a priceless life lesson

How hard is it to be a girl in this day and age? Aren’t they enjoying their freedom to do whatever they want? Turns out, not everyone is leading the life of their choice without being judged or questioned. It is disappointing to see in the year 2025, even little girls aren’t spared from the traditional ideology of doubting women’s ability to do something. Behind the so-called progress, many young girls like Elena Easly still face resistance, especially when their dreams break gender stereotypes.

Elena Easly, an 8-year-old girl, fought the rude comments about her love for football in her own way. A TikTok video featuring Elena, sitting beside her mother, has gone viral with over 3 million views. In it, the tearful little girl explains why she is crying, while her mom gently consoles her with empowering words. Stephanie, the mother, tells her daughter, “Sometimes, the world isn’t so nice to girls for no reason. It makes no sense,” as tears roll down the poor girl’s cheeks. The video ends with the duo asking all the girls who play sports to come forward and display girl power.

This was not the first time Elena was targeted for her passion. The kid from Minnesota was always bullied in her school for being a girl who loved football. She usually ignored the bullies, but this time, someone’s comment hit her harder. A little boy in her school, who had not seen girls playing football, started pestering her about it. He said that women can’t play football and that she should step off the field, as there’s nothing she could do by playing the sport. This comment made her rethink women’s roles in the field.

Upset and confused, she turned to her mother for support, who tried to convince her that the boy was wrong. Seeing her daughter still upset, Stephenie knew words alone weren’t enough. That’s when Elena came up with an idea to share her story with the world. Elena believed a TikTok video might help her experience reach millions. She trusted this process of putting her story out there because she had seen her mother reach many people through her viral foster dog videos.

This led to the mother and daughter making a video and successfully getting people to talk about the issue. People showed their support and love for the girl with motivational words, videos, and sweet gestures. Teams and athletes from around the world responded with love. From PWHL Toronto to the New Zealand Black Ferns Rugby, support poured in. The video reached fearless rugby player Ilona Maher, who shared her words of encouragement. Kansas City Glory, a women’s tackle football team, invited Elena and Stephanie to one of their games. Nana Olavuo, the linebacker, considers Elena the Glory’s good luck charm and FaceTimes her before every game. These heartwarming responses backed Stephanie’s reassuring statement to her daughter: “Girls can do anything they wanna do.”

The impact didn’t stop at TikTok. Stephanie also posted this video on Instagram, where she usually posts videos of her dogs. The video, which has 313,146 likes so far, has a comment section filled with positivity and stories of women who have gone through similar experiences. @the_decoroom_tx wrote, ”Such a precious girl; you can do anything, and you deserve the world.” @gsspola uplifted her with the comment that said, “Hi Elena! Your love for sports is beautiful, and don’t ever let someone else limit you.”

Elena’s story makes us wonder, how far have women really come in sports? In the 1900 Olympics, only 2.2% of athletes were women. By 2024, that number rose to 49% despite having no female participants from six countries. UNESCO reported that women make up 40% of all sports participants, yet receive only 4% media coverage. Football participation among women increased by 24% from 2019 to 2023, reaching 16.6 million players. Although it is really hopeful to see growing female involvement in sports, there is still a long way to go.