Ethnic diversity on the shooting line

[Jumile]

Originally Posted by munchkin

this is probably due to the amounts that people shell out for kit, tournaments and club fees... i know that because it's a sport which you can't really make a living out of in this country, parents of the ethnic variety are less likely to invest.

I think this probably hits one of the nails on the head: costs versus returns. Excluding club, association and the ever-present insurance fees, ball sports tend to have minimal kit outlay - mostly protective gear that can be lent by the club if needed. Can you feed the family (or your town!) at the top of the game: David Beckham or Johnny Wilkinson vs Laurence Godfrey or Alison Williamson? Then there's what people seek to get out of the sport - finesse, target and precision sports aren't really an efficient way to vent youthful exuberance and energy.

My fencing and shooting clubs have similar percentages of non-white members to archery - though as fencing is probably seen as less of an "adult sport" (deadly projectiles) it benefits from a number of children being interested at school age and dragging their family along. Which is great: ~25% of our beginners courses are children under 15 (usually under 12).

Media and cultural coverage count for a lot, too. With the new Robin Hood series on telly, I'm sure it will attract more new members. Regardless of how much it gets slated by purists who "know better".

Some kind of umbrella campaign might help, too. How is a beginner to know if they want to do target, field, 3D, or whatever subdivisions and variations exist within each. It might be easy to say that it's easy enough for them to search for it, but that's missing the point entirely... and leaves them prey to the inter-Association rivalry that I'm sure exists in a sport with the kind of passion I've seen in just this forum.

And don't forget the stigma of hunting that goes along with archery. Nobody who's been here more than a week can say it doesn't - just refer to the recent bowhunting poll. Some ethnic and religious groups steer well clear of sports that appear to glorify killing - and that could be impacting archery, regardless of whether the fear is based in reality.

[Greenman]

I am not sure money is the main cause , my other leisure activity is Fell and Mountain walking and that seems to be a predominately white activity, and that doesn't cost anything. I think that some cultures just have different ideas on how to spend their leisure time, eg. football is played mainly by European and Africans, Cricket by English and Asians, Table tennis ....Chinese? The main reason I suspect is the low profile of the sport and lack of facilities. Perhaps we ought to make the sport sexier, not sure how.

[Dante]

But does it really matter we may as well ask what the socio-economic make up of the shooting line. "How many working class archers do you have compared to the middle class".

Archery is a sport to enjoy and those who have the desire will naturally migrate to the sport.

The internet is wonderful if you fancy a go it does not take long to find a local club.

[Kae]

Originally Posted by Greenman

Perhaps we ought to make the sport sexier, not sure how.

Topless shooting?
Could be painfull

[Greenman]

Originally Posted by Dante

But does it really matter we may as well ask what the socio-economic make up of the shooting line. "How many working class archers do you have compared to the middle class".

Archery is a sport to enjoy and those who have the desire will naturally migrate to the sport.

The internet is wonderful if you fancy a go it does not take long to find a local club.

You are totally right,though the internet isn't always as helpful as it could be and not everyone has access to it. I have always thought of archery as classless and not an issue,and new members of whatever class ,culture , etc should be welcome.

[Dante]

Originally Posted by Kae

Topless shooting?
Could be painfull

And distracting

[Greenman]

Originally Posted by Kae

Topless shooting?
Could be painfull

You'll be getting us into trouble!

[hypertigger]

Originally Posted by Kae

Topless shooting?
Could be painfull

you joke, but one of my friends and her husband are naturists, and she's shot au naturelle before... and has twanged her nipple, and she's not big chested!!

[hypertigger]

re universities - imperial has a very high proportion of foreign students, as do alot of the london colleges, not sure about the unis outside london, i've only been to uni in london!!

having said that we have lots of foreign students, alot of them are on scholarships, and a major concern for them is to get a 2:1 or 1st or their government makes them pay back tuition fees and their bursaries, which is not a trivial sum of money. you think that £3k is a bit much every year, our (IC's) foreign students (outside EU) are paying at least £15K a year, may be more for clinical science

on the parent's funding sports etc. like munchkin, i was lucky, dad paid for my first bow, and thanks dad!!

chinese parents are interested in getting their children into medicine, law and other high paying sectors - i know finance is the major one, but they still like doctors etc and that means a lot of study, and no play, and archery is probably seen very much as a play thing, and as munchkin said, you can't earn a living from it, not in the UK.

while i was at school and uni, dad was very much 'get a good degree and it will lead to a good job' and to a certain extent it has (i have a very nice job with an international engineering consultancy), but some oriental and asian parents still don't understand that ironically the british view of 'let them play' is actually a good thing for building social skills, leadership skills, all the peripheral things that make people well rounded and attractive to employers....

i appear to be rambling.....

back to the point, scuba clubs suffer the same ethnicity diversity problems (predominantly white middle aged portly males!) and we have all that rubber around too!!

[Andyakashrek]

Perhaps the dress code may put off some burka wearers.
I know it's not pc but it has to be said. I wonder what a judge would make of an archer on the line dressed top to toe in black with just a small slit for eyes, sometimes not even that. Or the GNAS.