Community
03 February 2023

Creating Access For Anyone To Participate In Hockey

England Hockey's Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Framework aims to address inequalities that exist within the game. Written as actions for everyone in the sport, the Framework has four key outcomes:

To reflect society and ensure hockey remains relevant in the 21st century;
To ensure safe, respectful, inclusive cultures valuing and welcoming everyone;
To create access for anyone from any background to participate in hockey; and
Ensure the reputation of hockey is regarded as excellent in its commitment to ED&I

Breaking down barriers and increasing hockey opportunities for all

As part of the creating access for anyone outcome, England Hockey, with support from Sport England via their Birmingham 2022 NGB Innovation & Digital Fund has embarked on a journey to utilise the power of the Commonwealth Games to increase accessibility and bring hockey to more people across the West Midlands area.

The project which has been delivering hockey events, activities and sessions since the Commonwealth Games last summer aims to:

“Profile hockey in a broad and more diverse way by strengthening relationships with local hockey clubs and local delivery partners in and around Birmingham & the West Midlands, to ensure the hockey provision in the local area is as wide-reaching, as effective, and as aligned as possible”

To date, the project has been a huge success. It has enabled England Hockey to engage in new ways with community groups, local clubs and introduce hockey to new groups of adults and young people across the area, providing them with a positive and enjoyable first experience of our beloved sport.

Engaging with Muslim girls in inner city Birmingham; partnering with Bring it on Brum! and Street Games to add hockey to their Holiday Activity and Food provision; delivering adapted sessions to young people and adults with disabilities and supporting clubs develop lasting relationships with state schools in areas of high deprivation.

These are just some of the success stories this project has delivered to date.

“We are delighted to see the impact our Commonwealth Games Legacy project is having around the West Midlands area. Not only is it helping us accelerate our Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion work to make hockey more accessible to a broader and more diverse audience. It is also enabling us to collect valuable insight and learnings that we can use to shape future developments and delivery within our sport.”

Entering 2023

As we start 2023, existing activity will continue locally at club and community level alongside plans to widen some initiatives across the country. This will help contribute to building sustainable delivery programmes and extending reach and accessibility to new participants.

In addition, a new cohort of clubs and community groups across the Midlands will start to deliver hockey sessions in schools and community spaces.

Projects will focus on delivering hockey:

In primary and secondary state schools located in inner city areas and areas of high deprivation
to groups of disabled adults through our inclusive Flyerz programme
to more children attending Holiday Activity and Food provision across Birmingham by collaborating with more providers
to increase physical and mental wellbeing in inactive adults and those with long-term health conditions, through our Walking Hockey and Vitality Back to Hockey sessions

Find out more

To read more about our existing legacy project, the initiatives, and the impact they have had on participants, please visit our dedicated webpages.

If you are a community group in the Midlands area and are interested in working with us to provide hockey to your participants, please get in touch with us participation@englandhockey.co.uk