We have a diversity problem in beach volleyball. The sport is dominated by people from a predominantly white, middle-class background, despite many of our centres lying in diverse communities. We have identified three reasons for this:
- Lack of diversity among role models and staff;
- Cost barrier to attending training/competition;
- Little to no outreach into BAME communities.
We’re dedicated to doing our best to change this, and being as transparent as possible about the steps we plan on taking.
OUR STEPS
- Show people from different ethnicities playing volleyball across our website and advertising.
- Actively recruit and train more BAME staff.
- Set up, advertise and display a bursary programme to help overcome the financial barrier.
- Create and deliver an outreach programme in new local schools.
- Create a series of blogs & posts about BAME role models.
- Benchmark ethnicity data with a survey.
For further information, you can read our National Strategy for 2022.
We’re also dedicated to being held accountable if our efforts fall short of our goal. If you have any concerns, you can contact us by sending an email to hello@fireballbeachvolleyball.com.