Sky Sports Racing And Bha Partner For Diversity Initiative
Sky Sports Racing has announced a new partnership with the British Horseracing Authority’s (BHA) Step on Track Programme.
The initiative, conceived by the BHA’s Careers in Racing team, will be the focus of a new campaign aimed at developing interest in horseracing from groups currently underrepresented in the sport.
Aimed at 16 to 19 year-olds, the first Step on Track comprises a week-long programme of inspirational and educational talks involving high-profile names from across all areas of the horseracing industry.
“Like many sports, British horseracing needs to better reflect the demographics of the society within which we all live and work,” said Matthew Imi CEO, At The Races and Sky Sports Racing.
“Sky Sports Racing and At The Races very much share the BHA’s ambition to drive for greater diversity and inclusivity and, especially, appeal to those from BAME backgrounds to look at what we have to offer by way of career paths within our sport.
“The programme of events that the Careers in Racing team have been able to put on during next week’s Step on Track will provide participants with a broad range of career options they might want to consider and we are very grateful to all of our colleagues within the sport who are supporting us with their time and expertise. Along with organising work experience and mentoring, this is the sort of initiative which will help expose horseracing to those from ethnic minority backgrounds and allow them to explore career opportunities in racing, the UK’s second largest spectator sport.”
Zoe Elliott, Head of Careers Marketing and Recruitment, BHA added: “We were delighted that when Sky Sports Racing heard the news about our Step on Track Programme, they were immediately keen to get more involved.
“Having them as a partner will enable us to reach a wide audience, as well as provide us with the opportunity to showcase the broadcast side of racing, be that in front of or behind the camera. When anyone is thinking what they might want to do work wise, they really need to be able to ‘see it’ in order to understand that they can ‘be it’ so making career options and job roles visible – and having BAME ambassadors – is really important to careersinracing. We are very much looking forward to developing the Step on Track Programme over the next few years.”
Sky Sports Racing says it will promote the campaign via weekly emails, social media posts and banners on attheraces.com, as well as interviews on Sky Sports Racing
It has also committed to using the breadth of its media platforms to try and introduce people from diverse ethnic backgrounds to the sport and encourage them to consider a career within it.
