AHEAD of their return to Super League action on Saturday Warrington Wolves’ players have shown their support and solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement by releasing a statement on behalf of the first team squad.
This week the first team squad became the first Super League club to undertake Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training which was delivered by Alex Simmons, Head of Diversity at IMA Global, over Zoom.
The statement below is on behalf of our first team playing squad.
“We, the Warrington Wolves, players fully respect and support the Black Lives Matter campaign.
“How we show that respect and support ahead of Saturday’s match could be varied. We all have our own beliefs and opinions. However, we want to be united and show solidarity in the fight against racism.
“Since January we’ve held internal discussions relating to racism, equality and diversity. We all agree it is time for change. Our united stance on Saturday will be in full support of Black Lives Matters as we aim to raise awareness towards positive change.”
Alex Simmons, Head of Diversity at IMA Global said:“It’s been refreshing to work with Warrington Wolves providing the full first team squad and staff a base level of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion training with a specific bolt on discussion around an authentic response to the Black Lives Matter campaign.
“This is the first step in a journey to become more engaged with their own black community and celebrate their black heroes. The fact players received education in the subject and then had difficult conversations around individual feelings and beliefs shows how open and together the culture is at the club.”
In June the club released a limited-edition Black Lives Matter t-shirt with over £5,000 raised for UK anti-racism educational charity Show Racism the Red Card.
As a club we stand against all forms of racism and prejudice and will continue to strive to do more to tackle racial injustice.
Meanwhile on Saturday tributes will be made to former Warrington Wolves and Hull KR player Jordan Cox, who represented the Wire in 2016 and holds heritage number 1126, who tragically passed away in April at the age of 27.
Players from both sides will wear black armbands in his memory as well as observing a minutes silence prior to kick-off in which the lives lost to coronavirus will also be remembered.
A tribute to Jordan will also be displayed on the pitchside LED advertising screens on the 27th minute.
