Black History of Netball in Scotland
31st October 2022
BLACK HISTORY OF NETBALL IN SCOTLAND
This year to honour Black History Month, it was time to take a hard look at who is represented in Netball across Scotland but more importantly who is not.
Speaking to Mecillo Williams, Scotland’s first black national player, it was starkly apparent that there is still a real lack of representation of black and ethnic minorities in the senior squad.
Commenting at the European World Cup Qualifiers’ Williams explained;
“Even now looking at the team I am not seeing any colour, I am sure there are lots of club players of colour but I am not seeing any of them actually making it up to the higher echelons.”
“There is still a gap, I don’t know how you close that gap. I’m not sure if people are even thinking about representation and how important it is for young girls to see somebody of their colour playing and thinking ‘I can aspire to that’.”
Mecillo with the squad in Canada 1995
Sport can be a great equalizer and bring people together, especially team sport. Earning her first international cap against Canada in 1995, Mecillo recalls;
“I never thought about my colour when I was playing, I was just a player. There may have been barriers, but I wasn’t aware of them. For me it was just about playing and nothing else. The best thing about playing for Scotland was that it felt like a community, our team spirit has always been there.”
“Moving forward we shouldn’t just have black players in a squad because we want to tick a box. We need to have them there on merit. Young children need to see others like themselves in every aspect of life so they can say that can be me too. When I was playing I didn’t think about how powerful this truly was. I’m immensely proud to be part of the long overdue conversation.”
Netball Scotland embraces the diverse communities across the country and is committed to ensuring our sport is welcoming, inclusive and accessible for all. It is our mission to engage meaningfully with ethnically and culturally diverse communities across Scotland and deliver quality opportunities for all people to experience netball.
