In Bold: Darcy Bourne
Darcy Bourne has known where she wants to be since she was a little girl.
“One of my earliest memories is watching the Beijing 2008 Olympics,” she remembers. “I was six years old and I told my parents that I was going to compete in the Olympics. That’s pretty much been my goal ever since.”
And now, as she continues her sporting journey, Darcy is helping other girls, just like her, realise their dreams too.
On the pitch, Darcy plays club hockey in the Women's England Hockey League Premier Division for Surbiton, as well as for the England and Great Britain national teams. However, it was after a photo of Darcy taken at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020 went viral that her life changed.
Seizing the opportunity to use her new platform to diversify the sport that she loves, Darcy co-founded Beyond Our Game, a diversity initiative that aims to unite and empower minority communities through sports. After growing the organisation in America, Darcy is now bringing it to the UK with its sister charity, Raising Her Game.
We caught up with Darcy to chat about her journey into elite sports, how it felt to be thrust to the forefront of representation activism overnight and the important role sport can play in creating a more inclusive society for all of us.
Here's Darcy’s story.
Growing bold
“I used to play football in the Chelsea Academy. I actually played in the boy’s team at school, as there wasn’t a girls team,” remembers Darcy. “When I got a little older, I was told I needed to do a ‘girls sport’ and so I chose hockey and soon after joined my local club.”
Darcy might’ve discovered hockey accidentally, but what she found within the sport was the chance to see incredible role models. “I didn’t really know what I was signing up for at the time and didn’t appreciate how good the club is. But joining a club where there were international players and Olympians right there was important – I had role models right in front of me. When I look back, I’m really grateful for that.”
“I had a bunch of biographies of black female athletes – people like Serena Williams, Jess Ennis and Denise Lewis,” recalls Darcy. “But there wasn’t as much representation in hockey as there was in other sports. And it’s still the case that if you’re a little black girl looking at the GB hockey squads, you’re not going to see people that look like you.”
But Darcy is on a mission to change that…
“If you’re a little black girl looking at the GB hockey squads, you’re not going to see people that look like you.”
Taking bold steps
“I got my first taste of playing for England at the Under-16 level and I loved every second of it. The feeling of putting on the shirt for the first time is still so vivid to me.”
Since then, Darcy’s hockey career has gone from strength to strength, but it hasn’t been without its challenges; “When I reflect on times when I haven’t been selected for the team, I can see that it’s made me that much more determined and that’s when I’ve improved the most,” Darcy shares. “It’s also in those moments that you appreciate being part of a team. Whether you’re in or out, there are always people with you. That’s quite a special environment.”
And the power of unity is something that, in the summer of 2020, lead Darcy to a life-changing moment. “I remember seeing the video of George Floyd being killed and being filled with every emotion. When I heard that there would be marches in London, I knew I had to be there,” says Darcy. “The night before the protest I was watching a lot of content from America and the conversations were all about how the protesters were the issue. I couldn’t believe that was even being questioned, so I changed my placard to say, ‘Why is ending racism a debate?’”
“The protest was like nothing I’ve ever experienced. The unity I felt there was unbelievable. When I arrived a photographer, Misan Harriman, took my photo [pictured left], but I didn’t think much of it. A few days later, my phone exploded. The photo had been shared by Edward Enniful, former Editor in Chief of British Vogue, and from there it just blew up.”
Bold, but bigger
“Overnight, I went from being an 18-year-old who had never thought about being in the world of activism to being interviewed on TV and receiving messages from people all around the world,” Darcy recalls. “I felt out of my depth at times, but I realised that if you want to have an impact then you have to step forward. I had an opportunity to make a difference and I was determined not to waste it - and that’s what I’ve been trying to do ever since.”
With the opportunity to create a more inclusive world on her mind, Darcy left the UK to attend university in America – where she met the co-founder of Beyond Our Game; “A few weeks into the term, after the shooting of Jacob Blake, the men’s assistant basketball coach at Duke, Nolan Smith, gave a speech at a protest. He said “never underestimate your voice or your power. And never underestimate the power when we stand united”.
“I took the knee during a game and so did Courtnie. We were playing against each other, but we chatted after the game and thought about how we could create a diversity initiative together – and that was Beyond Our Game.”
“Beyond Our Game empowers youth through sports by breaking the barriers to sport by hosting initiatives like our free sports camps for girls from ethnic minorities and lower socioeconomic groups. We’ve been doing this out in the US for years now, and we have recently launched a sister charity in the UK, Raising Her Game. So, it is coming to life closer to home for me, which is really exciting.”
“I’ve felt out of my depth at times, but if you want to have an impact then you have to step forward.”
Fueling bold
When we chatted to Darcy, she was dealing with a knee injury that was preventing her from playing hockey, but that hasn’t stopped her finding ways to make her time away from the pitch count for something.
“I’ve been really inspired by Leah Williamson, the Lionesses captain. She’s got a knee injury too, but I’ve seen her attend events and do charity work, which has helped put things into perspective for me. Leah’s really made the most of that time away from the pitch and it’s made me consider how I’m spending this time too,” says Darcy. “I now see it as an opportunity to focus on causes that I really care about, like my work with Beyond Our Game and going back into our communities.”
And as for inspiring examples of how sport can be a vehicle for change in society as a whole? Darcy thinks we need look no further than women’s sport; “There is an amazing documentary called ‘Game On: The Unstoppable Rise of Women’s Sport’. It shows how women’s sport has evolved over time and it was remarkable to see such huge progress – particularly in terms of finance and fan support.”
“One of the great things about women’s sport is its potential to create change, as everyone involved in women’s sport at every level has had to overcome the barrier of being a woman. I think we have a real opportunity to make women’s sport a much better place and more influential community than we’ve ever seen in sport before.”
A bold future
So, what’s next for Darcy? “I’m ridiculously excited to get back on the pitch. I don’t know when that will be, but whenever it is I’m going to enjoy every second,” she shares. “Away from the pitch, I’ll be getting Beyond Our Game up and running in the UK. We really just want to impact as many little girls as possible and help show them how great sport is.”
And as Beyond Our Game pushes to create a more representative sporting world, Darcy believes a role for businesses too: “I’ve sat on a few panels with senior leaders at bigger organisations and when asked about improving diversity they’ve responded by saying that they don’t have the resources to address the problem,” she says. “They see diversity as a check box that costs them resources, but do they think about what they’re gaining? Increasing diversity is something that helps everyone. Actively and intentionally bringing in people from diverse backgrounds is going to lead to more diversity of thought – how can that be a bad thing?”
Darcy’s final advice to those of us wanting to do something bold? “You never know where that first step will take you. If you can positively impact one person, then it’s worthwhile. And if you can impact more than one, then that’s brilliant.”
Thanks for reading
We hope you feel inspired by Darcy’s story. Hearing how Darcy has used her platform as an athlete to turn a chance encounter into a meaningful change was a powerful reminder of how we can all step forward and lean into any opportunities that we’re given to change the world for the better – both as individuals and as businesses.
“I think we have a real opportunity to make women’s sport a much better place and more influential community than we’ve ever seen in sport before.
“Bringing in people from different backgrounds is going to lead to more diversity of thought – how can that be a bad thing?”
