I, AND many others in sport, use the word diversity on a regular basis. Yet I have never looked at the definition of the word.
On looking it up I find there are several interpretations, but the one that fits my chain of thoughts is: “The practice or quality of including or involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, etc.”
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Often the conversation around diversity is difficult, particularly when it is aimed at long-standing leadership roles within an organisation, as it demands
change from what seems to have been an interminable and enduring arrangement. On many occasions it has been found that introducing this concept into different groups can be met with suspicion and resistance.
So for me it was a pleasant change to be asked to help to bring diversity into an area of sport that many people may never really have thought about.
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QTV sports are one of Scotland’s leading providers of digital sports content and the introduction of this type of coverage has enabled many athletes to showcase their sport to a wider audience in a cost-effective manner and allow die-hard fans who can’t travel, for whatever reason, an opportunity to catch the action of their favourite sport, as it happens.
For sport in general, but women specifically, this is a godsend as airtime is limited and the mainstream providers tend not to have the same diversity of sports on offer. This new innovative idea has opened up so many avenues for sports bodies and it now gives the smaller sports a bit of a bargaining tool when it comes to attracting sponsorship. However, there is a lack of diversity within this field and this was brought home to me during a meeting I had with Lucy Lake of QTV.
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Lucy is keen to change the perception of this industry and encourage more young women, particularly those sportswomen who may be coming to the end of their playing career to consider working on the technical side of the lens. So we have agreed to put our heads together and look to see if we can find a solution to this issue by raising awareness of the variety of interesting roles available and all of them open to both males and females. All I can say, if you are interested, is watch this space.
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