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How can cheerleading improve its diversity?

Caroline Nyemi-Tei founded Cheer from Head to Toe to address poor representation in cheerleading and speaks about a video which documents participant experiences of racism.

Caroline Nyemi-Tei founded Cheer from Head to Toe to address poor representation in the sport of cheerleading.

She told Sportshour presenter Caroline Barker about a new video she released documenting athlete and coaches’ experiences of racism in the industry, and how the sport can become more inclusive: “I would like more of a reflection of people who not just look like me, but people of colour reflected in the advertising and the higher levels where they make really important decisions.

"Everyone is very unique, and somethings that I might think about, someone else might not cross their mind. That’s how things get missed, because we don’t have all the right people in the seats sharing their opinions. If we only have one set of people, you’re only getting one thought process.

"I don’t think people mean to be insensitive, but if they haven’t experienced it (discrimination) or they don’t know it, how can they share something they don’t know about? There’s a lot of education to be had, because I think people are trying but they’re not really sure what to do, or where to go.â€

Photo: Caroline Nyemi-Tei poses in front of a gold background. (Photo: Caroline Nyemi-Tei)

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Duration:

8 minutes

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