Image smith game company11/3/2022 ![]() “I think the opportunity to show them a new sport that they didn't think was made for them is really powerful and really inspiring,” said Bourne. However, Bourne is doing her bit to diversify the sport by supporting the Spencer Lynx academy which provides hockey coaching for inner city kids in London who otherwise wouldn’t receive it. Having turned out for local side Surbiton Hockey Club and boarded at Wellington College, she acknowledges her path to the top of the game is no different to her peers. Not that I wasn't but to go that extra mile with Paris around the corner.”īourne is no stranger to being the only black player on the hockey field and is one of a handful of black women have represented Britain in the sport. “It was almost like the kick in the teeth that I think I needed to get really hungry again. ![]() ![]() “It kind of hurts when you're that close but I think I can't be anything but proud of the team and for the sport in general. The Commonwealth Games was quite a difficult experience, but something that I hope I can learn from. “That's still my dream and I'm one step closer to achieving that. “I remember I watched the Olympics when I was six years old and turned around to my parents and said, ‘I'm going to the Olympics one day,” said Bourne. That tournament finished in a disappointing quarter-final defeat to Argentina and Bourne’s senior international career has been far from plain sailing.Īs a reserve for the Commonwealth Games, she watched on from home as her England teammates made history by claiming that elusive gold medal after 24 years of trying but with Paris looming on the horizon, she is not lacking in motivation. The project bridged hockey rivalries as Bourne’s co-founder, Courtnie Williamson, was an opposing player at nearby University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “A lot of what I do today is because of that photo.”īourne took up a hockey scholarship at Duke University in the US later in 2020 where she used her voice to co-found Beyond Our Game, a diversity recruiting platform dedicated to providing student-athletes of colour with competitive employment opportunities. “I think that was the moment I realised that this photo has given me the opportunity to do something really special. “It was 2am in the morning but there’s no-one in the world that it would have meant more if they’d shared it. “I was excited, overwhelmed and literally couldn’t get off my phone for the first two days and when I saw Martin Luther King III shared it, I burst into tears,” she recalled. Several celebrities and athletes, including Lewis Hamilton and Dina Asher-Smith, re-posted the image before poignantly Martin Luther King III, son of the prominent American civil rights activist, shared the photo. “I saw Misan right at the beginning of the day and he took a photo of it and I didn't think anything of it, because everyone was taking photos of everyone but a few days later I checked my phone and it had just blown up.” “I remember the night before I was scrolling through Instagram, and I saw something that made me think, why is ending racism a debate? Like why is this controversial? So, I wrote that on my sign. “I wanted to go to the protests but I wasn’t expecting to have any sort of impact, I just wanted to be part of it. I am beyond honoured that such an inspirational man has shared this photo of me□ the power of this movement is incredible, let’s keep it up - Darcy Bourne June 10, 2020 But it very much does, obviously, and I just knew I wanted to get involved. “I thought it was an old video because I didn't believe that sort of stuff still happened. “When I saw the video of the death of George Floyd, I remember just being filled with every emotion. WarnerBros.“It's kind of crazy thinking back in hindsight, because that one photo literally changed my life,” explained Bourne, who celebrates her 21st birthday during Black History Month. ![]()
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