New SailGP Initiative To Fast Track Inclusion Of Female Athletes

SailGP has launched its first major diversity, equity and inclusion initiative, laying out in detail a new program to fast-track the training and development of female athletes for participation in the league’s Season 2.

According to the league, its immediate focus is the ‘advancement of gender equity and racial diversity,’ and it has confirmed that it has been working with diversity and inclusion consultancy the Clear Company for the last four months.

SailGP has also established two working committees to address inclusion issues: a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee – which the league says includes 75% membership from ‘underrepresented groups’ – aims to drive inclusion of women and racially diverse individuals across the organisation, while a separate Women’s Committee – made up of a cross-section of internal and external members, including more than 80% women – is supporting the female athlete integration process.

In early November, SailGP says it will host the first in a series of women’s invitational camps that will eventually be conducted in each team’s market – Australia, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and the United States – to engage with female athletes who meet the league’s overall selection criteria. An initial 16 women will be invited to take part in a pre-season training camp, with at least one female athlete per team taking part in Season 2.

A dedicated women’s program manager, which SailGP says will be in place by January 2021, will oversee the initiative.

“We acknowledge that there is work to be done in order to make our organisation and this sport more inclusive, and we are fully committed to addressing the need to accelerate change,” said Sir Russell Coutts, CEO, SailGP.  

“As we have quickly progressed to become the pinnacle global league for the sport, it has also become abundantly clear that this opportunity should be afforded to as wide a group of athletes as possible.

“Fast, foiling boats – including our F50 catamarans – are now rightfully at the center of high-performance sail racing, however, the majority of that racing has been predominantly male-driven, resulting in an experience gap among genders. All genders can, and should, be equal in this sport, and we must therefore provide the opportunity necessary to close that gap. It is imperative that we break existing boundaries in the sport to create a more inclusive environment overall.”

Recently, SailGP launched part one of its Race to the Future initiative, bidding to become the first sports league to achieve climate positive status. It has also appointed Fiona Morgan to a newly created role of Director of Purpose and Impact.

Morgan, who is a Judge at the Sport Industry Awards 2021, joins from Sky to drive the league’s purpose agenda. She previously shaped social impact strategy as the head of the broadcaster’s The Bigger Picture team, and led the Sky Ocean Rescue consumer campaign.