Denmark and Spain BBC
Discussion
LongBaz said:
No mention of no black players.
Perhaps not but the issue has been brought up in the competition and before it with regards the low number of non-white players in the England team. Do the Denmark and Spain men's football teams have better black representation? The issue with the England team was the difference between men's and women's in that respect.I have occasionally been watching some of the games from the Women's Euros, and I have found it very odd how the commentators/pundits have returned time and again to the diversity issue in the England setup.
There was an extremely clumsy segway during one half-time segment, when the commentator asked the viewers (via the 4th wall) if they had noticed that none of the 5 substitutes that came on during England's thrashing of Norway, were Black?
I always thought, when it came to sport, that you selected the very best players available. That should mean that you don't take into account age, gender, sexuality, religion or colour, just their ability to play the game in question.
At the moment, in England, the best 11 female footballers are white.
Now don't get me wrong, I am all for diversity in any sport. And there definitely needs to be more done to encourage kids from all races and background to get involved in the game.
But that's something that needs addressing at the grass roots level, and developing for the future.
The tone of the diversity discussions that have been happening during the Euros, has to me, seemed to suggest that the England team should be more diverse for the sake of diversity. This would mean the inclusion of ethnic minority players, even if they weren't as skilled as the white players that were making way for them.
Ultimately, this approach would mean that the England team playing in the Euros would not be the best team that could theoretically be fielded. And doesn't that go against the whole ideology of competitive sport?
I'd also be interested to see what the reaction of the commentators/pundits would be, if the England team were all black? Would there be a call for more white players to be included?
As I understand it, diversity works equally in all directions.
There was an extremely clumsy segway during one half-time segment, when the commentator asked the viewers (via the 4th wall) if they had noticed that none of the 5 substitutes that came on during England's thrashing of Norway, were Black?
I always thought, when it came to sport, that you selected the very best players available. That should mean that you don't take into account age, gender, sexuality, religion or colour, just their ability to play the game in question.
At the moment, in England, the best 11 female footballers are white.
Now don't get me wrong, I am all for diversity in any sport. And there definitely needs to be more done to encourage kids from all races and background to get involved in the game.
But that's something that needs addressing at the grass roots level, and developing for the future.
The tone of the diversity discussions that have been happening during the Euros, has to me, seemed to suggest that the England team should be more diverse for the sake of diversity. This would mean the inclusion of ethnic minority players, even if they weren't as skilled as the white players that were making way for them.
Ultimately, this approach would mean that the England team playing in the Euros would not be the best team that could theoretically be fielded. And doesn't that go against the whole ideology of competitive sport?
I'd also be interested to see what the reaction of the commentators/pundits would be, if the England team were all black? Would there be a call for more white players to be included?
As I understand it, diversity works equally in all directions.
My understanding of the issue from the Alex Scott documentary is that the difference in black representation between men's and women's teams makes no sense if we are trying to suggest they are the represent best players who you would expect to make up the team. The suggestion is that because of the lack of availability of decent coaching and team support in women's football, getting to elite level means more time/expense/support is needed from family and white "girls" tend to get more of that. The net result is that the team ends up not being as good as it could be if it was chosen from a bigger pool.
rwindmill said:
I have occasionally been watching some of the games from the Women's Euros, and I have found it very odd how the commentators/pundits have returned time and again to the diversity issue in the England setup.
There was an extremely clumsy segway during one half-time segment, when the commentator asked the viewers (via the 4th wall) if they had noticed that none of the 5 substitutes that came on during England's thrashing of Norway, were Black?
I always thought, when it came to sport, that you selected the very best players available. That should mean that you don't take into account age, gender, sexuality, religion or colour, just their ability to play the game in question.
At the moment, in England, the best 11 female footballers are white.
Now don't get me wrong, I am all for diversity in any sport. And there definitely needs to be more done to encourage kids from all races and background to get involved in the game.
But that's something that needs addressing at the grass roots level, and developing for the future.
The tone of the diversity discussions that have been happening during the Euros, has to me, seemed to suggest that the England team should be more diverse for the sake of diversity. This would mean the inclusion of ethnic minority players, even if they weren't as skilled as the white players that were making way for them.
Ultimately, this approach would mean that the England team playing in the Euros would not be the best team that could theoretically be fielded. And doesn't that go against the whole ideology of competitive sport?
I'd also be interested to see what the reaction of the commentators/pundits would be, if the England team were all black? Would there be a call for more white players to be included?
As I understand it, diversity works equally in all directions.
Additional:There was an extremely clumsy segway during one half-time segment, when the commentator asked the viewers (via the 4th wall) if they had noticed that none of the 5 substitutes that came on during England's thrashing of Norway, were Black?
I always thought, when it came to sport, that you selected the very best players available. That should mean that you don't take into account age, gender, sexuality, religion or colour, just their ability to play the game in question.
At the moment, in England, the best 11 female footballers are white.
Now don't get me wrong, I am all for diversity in any sport. And there definitely needs to be more done to encourage kids from all races and background to get involved in the game.
But that's something that needs addressing at the grass roots level, and developing for the future.
The tone of the diversity discussions that have been happening during the Euros, has to me, seemed to suggest that the England team should be more diverse for the sake of diversity. This would mean the inclusion of ethnic minority players, even if they weren't as skilled as the white players that were making way for them.
Ultimately, this approach would mean that the England team playing in the Euros would not be the best team that could theoretically be fielded. And doesn't that go against the whole ideology of competitive sport?
I'd also be interested to see what the reaction of the commentators/pundits would be, if the England team were all black? Would there be a call for more white players to be included?
As I understand it, diversity works equally in all directions.
An article on Yahoo! News today revealed that the BBC had received 220 unsolicited complaints, about Eilidh Barbour and her half time comments on diversity in the England women's team.
The complaints mirrored the point I made above.
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