Ethnic diversity on the shooting line

[Thunk]

Originally Posted by 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.

So what's wrong with bottle green burkhas?

[Pach]

I'm chinese... and a girl...

Hypertigger has described a typical chinesey life. My family, particularly the girls in my generation, tend to go against the 'chinesey' grain so we're actually a minority in a minority (I've got a cousin who motorcycles to see her clients (she's an accountant), a cousin whose travelled around the world and another cousin who's arty farty (with dreadlocks, weed and all), etc). What we're doing won't go amiss in Britain but it's unusual for a chinese person (esp a girl) to do it.

I'm also a diving instructor and a horse rider... yeap, I'm a rare breed indeed... Are you one too Hypertigger?

And... did you know that if you broke my surname into its constituent radicals, it would mean 'the master of bows'! Which I'm not cos I'm a beginner...

[grimsby archer]

having recently completed my obligatory (clubmark) runningsports "a club for all" course, we came to the conclusion that the biggest contributor to participation (or lack thereof) was image. We tend to do what we see other people of the group that we most closely associate with, or aspire to belong to. Advertisers show groups of beautiful young people in their adverts because deep down we all want to be part of their group. When you think of archery, you typically think of robin hood and his merry men, part of the white british culture. Women and members of ethnic communities (politically correct speak) dont see people like them doing archery either in advertisements, history or when visiting clubs. Its a bit of the chicken and egg situation. You want diversity within your club/sport, but the only way you get it is by having it in the first place to attract others. It is quite possible to target minority groups to increase participation from within those groups. If you want to know more, go on the course yourself.

[Rik]

Originally Posted by Greenman

our illustrious Government sent me a form to fill in, the last question was on Racial Origins, already spent an hour on it and was feeling a fed up so I ticked 2 boxes one for "of African Origin" ...

Which, if you think about it, actually covers the entire human race...
What was it: our genetics are all traceable to a single african female...

That said; having shot in London, you'd expect to see afair amount of ethnic diversity... not so. 2 black faces (Brian Jones, where are you now...?) and a few Asian and Chinese. White foreigners (as opposed to British ethnic minorities) seem far more common.

Not that I see much "colour" where I am now (except in work, where the majority of some departments seems to be Indian at the moment!).

[Allvyn]

Originally Posted by Pach

I'm chinese... and a girl...

Hypertigger has described a typical chinesey life. My family, particularly the girls in my generation, tend to go against the 'chinesey' grain so we're actually a minority in a minority (I've got a cousin who motorcycles to see her clients (she's an accountant), a cousin whose travelled around the world and another cousin who's arty farty (with dreadlocks, weed and all), etc). What we're doing won't go amiss in Britain but it's unusual for a chinese person (esp a girl) to do it.

I'm also a diving instructor and a horse rider... yeap, I'm a rare breed indeed... Are you one too Hypertigger?

And... did you know that if you broke my surname into its constituent radicals, it would mean 'the master of bows'! Which I'm not cos I'm a beginner...

Definately not Chinesey I'm Chinese too but still stuck out east. Hope to migrate 1 day

[Pach]

Are the gear over there cheaper than the gear here? I was thinking about popping over to Hong Kong to buy some stuff (electronics, nintendo wii, etc... and visit my grandma of course!).

[Rhys]

Well being at nottingham university I'd have to say that close to 50% of our novice intake are chinese, malaysian and middle eastern. The two alumni who still come down and coach etc are chinese, and 3/6 of our top shooters were chinese/malaysian.

I think we've only ever had one african shooter, but then they are a much smaller minority of the campus.

[shambusia]

Well...my Romanian wife shot her first ever arrows over the weekend, and some Sri Lankan friends of mine are thinking about trying it out. But generally i agree that there is an under-representation in the sport.

As others have said though, cultural & economic pressures may intervene against those who might chose to give archery a go. My experiance is that clubs are generally welcoming, but a bit intimidating to approach initially. As with most interested people, it's getting them in on the first day that's the difficult part.

Anyone know if school archery clubs are generally available and if ethnic minorities take up the sport there?

[Pach]

Originally Posted by Rhys

Well being at nottingham university I'd have to say that close to 50% of our novice intake are chinese, malaysian and middle eastern. The two alumni who still come down and coach etc are chinese, and 3/6 of our top shooters were chinese/malaysian.

But are they overseas students or british students? IAll I know is that overseas chinese and british chinese have totally different mentalities. Eg, overseas chinese are more likely to join a table tennis club (and the chinese society) than british chinese.

[Furface]

Using 2001 census statistics to find the proportion of ethnicity, and applying them to my club numbers suggested that we should have 1 "Indian" amongst our 68 members (which we do). All the other categories came out as less than one. If you aggregate the figures we come out with 3 "Asian" and one "Black" (which we don't). Now I know that statistics can mean anything you want, but, given the small numbers in most clubs, most clubs would not expect to have any "ethnic" members. However, the argument that there is about 8% of the population that we are not tapping into is fairly cogent. And, of course, I was using national statistics, and I dare say the proportions in the catchment area of North West Leeds are different. And this poses the question of whether there are archery clubs in areas where higher ethnic populations would suggest a different profile.
Slightly off-topic (except it may be a relevant factor) is that we only have 12 female members, so we are about 25 short of par.
Is this club profile - ethnic and gender - typical?