The Women’s Football Club has set up a Diversity in Sport Initiative to gain a “better understanding, as sports clubs, on things such as barriers to sport, and implicit bias, and how we can overcome these challenges.”
They are supported in the endeavour by diversity-focused societies such as ACS, YUSU BAME, and BAS, and will begin with a workshop during freshers week, attended by 11 University sports teams.
Maddi Cannell, York Sport President, commented to Vision that:
“York Sport Union supports clubs to become more diverse through our Equal Opportunities programme. This year we are looking to celebrate Black History Month, develop our training modules ahead of the Sport Leaders conference, and do more around diversity and inclusion. We are always looking to expand our programme of activity and welcome student led projects such as the Diversity in Sport Workshop.”
They have also expressed the intention to create videos addressing previous racially-sensitive situations, and to publicise what teams are doing to “constantly learn and move forward”.
Speaking to Vision, York’s Women’s Football Club commented:
“We were motivated to start this initiative as we feel diversity breeds diversity. As a sports club, we feel it is our responsibility to create an environment where everyone feels welcomed, included, and respected, and this initiative is the first step in doing so.”
Over the lockdown period, at the heart of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Sports community in York was noticably vocal.
The Dance Society memorably commented that: “Without BAME individuals and BAME cultures, dance would not be the rich art that we practice today.”