AIBU to wonder why all white is alright?

[VeraStanhope]

I'm not a sport buff, but I have had to sit through the GB womens' hockey matches. Wondering how they all have kept lovely slim, straight noses in what looks a brutal sport, I suddenly realised mid-final that all the players are white. Celebrating with all white support staff at the end of the match. Friend who is the sports buff says "well it is a posh sport". How is that okay to accept that in 2016?

Hockey is still a posh person's sport where I live. It might be played at state high schools, but in the private preps, they are playing from aged 6. That means by the time state school pupils are learning the ropes, the prep school kids are playing in the country leagues.

Junior membership costs £10 per month

That's a lot to many families, and if you have 2 or 3 children it is a huge amount. Then there is getting to the venue which is another cost.

I don't think 33p per day is insurmountable for the majority of people. Although you're right, if the child got good at it buying the gear and spending the time and petrol money would be too much for quite a few people.

power I think you don't understand how tight money is for a lot of people. Or how expensive playing hockey can be:

Sticks (multiple, they don't last long when you're playing at a decent level)
Pads
Logo club uniform
Mouthgards (never last longer than a season)
Club fees
Competition fees
Petrol
+++++

Did you actually read my post? I agreed with sashh that kit and petrol money would be out of the reach of a lot of people.
Re £10/month for membership though...that is great value and I don't see how clubs could possibly make it any cheaper and still pay the insurance, upkeep of facilities, electricity bill for floodlights etc. I stand by my comment that 33p/day is doable for the majority of people (not everyone). Most people would have to make some sacrifices..."right kid you can play hockey or we can get a dog, we can't afford both" and sashh's point about having more than one child is a very valid one...I imagine that for almost every parent of a talented and keen child the thorny issue of whether to spend a big % of your available time and money on that child or share it out equally rears its head.

powershower an outrageous number of children in this country live in poverty.

Writing '33p per day' to make it seem like a paltry amount doesn't make it any more affordable for them.

We tried to expand our hockey club to an area of deprivation. We charged £1 per week which didn't even cover the pitch hire. Not enough kids could afford it and we couldn't afford to keep it up.

That's pretty sad. I was watching that TV programme about minimum wage jobs this evening and thought about this thread. I watched the bit where they were opening the envelopes with a couple of notes and coins in after flogging their guts out for hours and thought yeah I guess £10/month is a lot more broccoli chopping after you've already chopped tons and tons to pay the rent, and another few tons to stop the electricity getting cut off. It would be shit to have so little disposable income that you don't even have the money for one child to do one cheaper-than-average sport at the lowest level.
I did say the majority of people could do it mind, not everyone. Yes a huge number of children live in poverty, but not the majority of children.
I suppose funding needs to be targeted to the poorest few % so it doesn't get so spread out as to end up not really helping anyone. I know the lottery funding already targets the other end- the elite few who have to go through rigorous analysis every year to prove they have strong medal chances (get injured or have a little dip in form and the money rug gets pulled from under you).
Does any lottery money go towards subsidising children in breadline poverty to do sport, does anyone know? And if so, are these initiatives designed to help the maximum possible number of children to enrich their life enjoying sport long term or just to identify more raw units to feed into the medal factory and bin the rest?

Hockey isn't posh where I live, DD plays for local club, most of the junior players come from 3 local comps (2 offer hockey, one doesn't)... In fact I think there are only 2 from private school, the kids don't give a stuff where they go to school, they get on brilliantly and enjoy having mates not from their own schools, they just love their hockey. The cost of membership is less than £100 for adults per year and that includes all training sessions (match fees are extra) also get some free kit in first yr of membership. U16s only pay £30. DD has also played at county level and one of the best players was an Asian girl from a state academy school and she went on to play at regional level (rural county so rubbish ethnic diversity). I remember DD playing against a private school from somewhere in the West Midlands once and half their team was made up of ethnic minority players including a very good Afro-Caribbean goalie.
It's a shame that more state schools don't offer hockey but Astro pitches are really expensive... & need space too. The worst story I heard was of a comp in the next county where only the girls judged to be in the top set for PE when they started at 11 were even given the chance to try hockey! So tough luck if you got interested in sport a bit later than 11! My DCs played a bit at primary school (quick sticks) but the u11 Saturday sessions at the local club is how they started... £10 membership for the year and £2 a week for 1.5hrs of fun training. A whole lot cheaper than most other sports options around us.

Hockey is not a posh sport. I played for the school team throughout my time at a Scottish non private school. I played for a women's team in Kent and they were certainly not posh as rough as old arseholes Happy days!
It was the English women's national team in disguise. I should be complaining at the lack of Scottish people in it.
The team played brilliantly. Well done to them.

I'm not a sport buff No you're someone who likes to use sport to make cheap jibes

Oh and you can buy sticks very reasonably, in fact my friend bought her DC one today from Sports Direct for £15 (not a wooden one either) and shin pads are about the same if not less... When my DC were younger I spent £10 on pads, £5 on a gum shield and borrowed a stick from the club. I know that it's not exactly nothing but if your DC plays footie they need pads too. Parents are also v good at lift sharing to spread the cost of travel to matches... And the adult teams do the same. Frugal bunch!! I can't think of any sport that has been totally free for my DCs outside school (except for an initiative by the local golf club one summer for local primary kids... Not that much uptake though).

Also, not all of the GB hockey players have always played hockey... Lily Owsley was into athletics and through the sports system for spotting those with potential it was suggested that she should try hockey and she took to it straight away... Her running background means she is a super fast player.

According to county coaches... You need speed AND endurance nowadays to reach the top as well as stick skills etc... And loads of drive and determination... astro hockey is way faster than hockey back in the day played in a sea of mud!

Frozen mud was the best.

lol Exit! #anklebreaker conditions! My DM liked playing in snow or deep mud best.., if you stood on the ball it disappeared! our school pitch specialised in flooding... Bleugh! Of course nowadays they don't play if the Astro is frozen #ice-rink

Just spotted this in twitterland... schoolsweek.co.uk/rio-olympics-2016-schools-praise-their-team-gb-medal-winners/?utm_content=buffer76755&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

The Meeadowbank Velodrome hasn't shut : it was under threat but for the moment its management has been taken over by Edinbrugh Road Club. They were even offering free taster sessions in June edfoc.org.uk/events/event/meadowbank-velodrome-taster-sessions/

The disadvantage it has is that it is not a covered velodrome and is therefore weather dependent.

In terms of accessibility, there are lots of ways that people can learn track cycling inexpensively. Ds' cycling club gets kids started (on club bikes) on a slightly banked outside circuit - there are quite a few of them around the country. The membership isn't expensive: max of £25/term and that includes the coaching.

Sessions in the Sir Chris Hoy velodrome are more expensive (once you're accredited, they're c£5/hour - a bit more if you have to hire a bike and shoes) - but they also do taster sessions. You can "hire" a bike from the club for, iirc, £2/week.

Ds' school took kids to the velodrome to give it a go (unfortunately, ds didn't get to go as he was already full accredited )

Rugby where we are (Glasgow) is also not elitist. 95% of the kids at the local club are from local state schools - and there are very few posh cars in the car park! It costs the princely sum of £65/year for child or £110 for a family (and even then. if people have an issue with affording it, we'll come to an arrangement) - which, by all accounts, is a lot less than the local football clubs. The only other unavoidable expense is a gumshield, which can be bought for less than £5. There is a boot and kit bag where people return grown-out-of-stuff so that people can check there before buying new stuff (new boots cost c£30). Game kit is paid for by the club and washed by whichever muggins volunteers

Most sports really do try hard to make themselves accessible.