British Basketball League Play-Off winners, London Lions, talk success in the top flight, the Women's Elite Sport Partnership and their efforts to fight inequality.
The London Lions Women’s team made history recently with victory in the British Basketball League play-off final in what has been one of their finest seasons in the team’s history.
Yet despite their overwhelming success, many of the Lions women have experienced more than their fair share of racism and sexism over the course of their careers, leading to considerable mental health challenges and difficulties with self doubt for many players.
Basketball has long been a staple of diversity in the sporting arena in America and is now the second most popular sport in terms of participation amongst young people in Britain and is markedly more inclusive than many other sports, but even for some of Britain’s best basketball stars, the fight for equality is a difficult one.
This comes as research from the London Lions suggests that there is widespread dissatisfaction and frustration amongst female sport fans in Britain:
- 28% of female fans believe that young, black sportspeople are misrepresented in UK sport
- Over 1 in 5 (22%) of female fans don’t feel as that the UK’s sporting landscape represents all classes and cultures
- Half (49%) of female fans lack an affinity with their sporting icons due to an absence of publicity and promotion
With this in mind, the London Lions recently partnered with other women’s sporting giants such as West Ham United women’s team and London Pulse Netball club to form the Women’s Elite Sport Partnership, in an effort to boost the development of women’s sport in Britain and combat inequality across all levels of sport.
Players and coaches from the London Lions women’s team are looking for progress in the following areas; what the future holds for women’s sport and the important role the game plays in promoting diversity in sport, particularly amongst young people.
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