Last Tuesday, we officially launched the Black Sport Collective in LTA, and the event was a huge success. A large number of students came out to support, engage, and help shape the future of this important initiative.

We kicked off the evening with a fun “Guess the Athlete” Kahoot, which set the energy for the night. From there, we moved on to introducing the mission and vision of the Black Sport Collective, a project designed to increase Black representation in sport, empower our community, and create pathways for future opportunities both at Surrey and beyond.

We then opened the floor to our first student discussion, which led into our panel of past Surrey students who shared honest and powerful reflections on their experiences in sport and life after university. After the panel, we continued the conversation with an open discussion, giving students the chance to voice their thoughts and ideas for the collective's future.

Towards the end of the event, we introduced two exciting opportunities for students to get involved in next semester: tennis mentoring and football refereeing.

To finish the night, students got the chance to have some fun and play tennis inside the lecture theatre, bringing a perfect mix of sport and community to close the launch.

A huge thank you to everyone who attended and contributed, and especially to Charlie Mascall for working with me to bring this initiative to life.

This is just the beginning. The Black Sport Collective has a bright future, and we’re excited to build it together.