Black History Month aims to promote and celebrate Black contributions to British society whilst sharing an understanding of Black history in general. Black History Month dates back to the 1920s and orginated in the United States before being marked in countries around the world. While the first UK Black History Month celebration took place in London on 1 October in 1987.
Over the past few years England and Great Britain hockey have celebrated the Black History within the sport and have since began to broaden our knowledge of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I).
As an organisation, we have opened up and looked into how we can change and be more inclusive, we created and ED&I framework to help guide us to be better.
“We Must All Recognise That We Have A Responsibility To Make Hockey More Diverse, Accessible And Relevant. While There Is Much To Be Proud Of, We Also Need To Acknowledge The Opportunity For Structural And Cultural Change Within Hockey And Not Be Afraid To Act. We Have Made An Organisational Commitment To Put ED&I Into All That We Do For The Game, And I Ask That Anyone Who Shares The Commitments As Laid Out In The Framework To Join Us, Commit To Positive Change, And Help Us All Make A Real Difference.” – Nick Pink, England Hockey Chief Executive.
Alongside this we have redeveloped the Talent System to ensure there are more opportunities for talented juniors to play hockey at a high level.
In 2020, we spoke to Rosie Sykes England and Great Britain’s first-ever Black Female Player. Rosie made her debut in 1978 versus Wales at Llanelli followed by a World Cup in 1979 and then in 1980 they qualified for the Olympics but later withdrew. Rosie said: “Looking back at my international career, I absolutely loved my time, it was brilliant. I remember when I was first picked for England, it was such a privilege to be able to play with other people who were at the same sort of level. I always felt so comfortable in that environment.”
We also spoke to Joan Lewis who played for England and Great Britain in the late 1980s and early 1990s. “Once I got into the full England squad, the absolute highlight of my international career was when we won the Europeans in 1991.” said Joan.
Today we celebrate current international players like Darcy Bourne, Vice President Dawn Bonner and coaches Kwan Browne and Jody Paul.
