NFR: Sky Brown (Olympics)

[cmg]

A fine parade of narrow minded Little Englanderism.

England's World Cup winning cricket captain was born in Dublin, Irish father, English mother, educated mostly in Ireland (and captained all Ireland's age group sides) so has about the same 'English' credentials as Sky Brown.

Incidentally if Sky Brown, a young person living a dream, has, as has been suggested, a New York accent then I am an Azerbaijani.

[RufusBrevettatemyhamster]

John Barnes wasn't born in England either.

[Two Ton Ted]

Sky Brown was born in Miyazaki, Japan. Her mother, Mieko, is Japanese and her father, Stuart, is British.

[filham]

A lot of top sports stars , particularly in tennis, spend a lot of their young lives abroad and seem to develop a mid atlantic accent. Must be confusing for them and difficultfor the rest of us to look upon them as one of our own.

In the good old days there was no such doubts about our stars such as Haynes, Cohen, Calaghan, Mullery, Hill etc. Probably one of the reasons they were so popular.

[RufusBrevettatemyhamster]

After doing a little research, here are some overseas born British sports stars, lets see what you think then...

Sir Bradley Wiggins - Belgian born, half Australian.

Cyrille Regis - Born in French Guiana (without him, we wouldn't have many black players.

John Barnes - Born in Jamaica.

Terry Butcher - once bandage wearing England captain, born in Singapore.

Owen Hargreaves - Born in Canada.

Our very own John Salako - born in Nigeria.

Kevin Pietersen - Born in South Africa (with the accent).

even Raheem Sterling was born in Jamaica, and i'm guessing you were supporting him in the Euros.

Without several of these player, we wouldn't be a very big success. So don't be so narrow minded.

[Stoneleigh Loyalist]

My point when starting this thread was how much time they had spent in this country. All of this listed above have lived and worked in England for some time but Sky Brown has hardly ever been here.

[Holders]

As I see it. all the more credit to her then for choosing the country of her father's birth, notwithstanding.

[cmg]

My point when starting this thread was how much time they had spent in this country. All of this listed above have lived and worked in England for some time but Sky Brown has hardly ever been here.

Fair enough. But, being just 13, she hasn't really lived and worked anywhere 'for some time'.

Also athlete's tend to work in environments that suit their sports. Skiers tend to go for snowy mountainous areas, long distance runners to high altitudes.
I know nothing of the skateboarding world, but assume it is more of a California than a Croydon thing. I note that she also has surfing aspirations, which would tend to rule out Clacton.

[Lighthouse]

My point when starting this thread was how much time they had spent in this country. All of this listed above have lived and worked in England for some time but Sky Brown has hardly ever been here.

Nothing to do with birth, parentage, but time spent in Country? Nationalism is getting very complicated.

[HV71]

My point when starting this thread was how much time they had spent in this country. All of this listed above have lived and worked in England for some time but Sky Brown has hardly ever been here.

Nothing to do with birth, parentage, but time spent in Country? Nationalism is getting very complicated.

Not only complicated Lighthouse but divisive and dangerous. Perhaps we could start a thread celebrating how the skateboarders seem to have a fantastic bond between them - no matter what ethnicity or creed . So encouraging to see amongst the young athletes

[Twig]

My point when starting this thread was how much time they had spent in this country. All of this listed above have lived and worked in England for some time but Sky Brown has hardly ever been here.

Nothing to do with birth, parentage, but time spent in Country? Nationalism is getting very complicated.

Not only complicated Lighthouse but divisive and dangerous. Perhaps we could start a thread celebrating how the skateboarders seem to have a fantastic bond between them - no matter what ethnicity or creed . So encouraging to see amongst the young athletes

Yeah that was very refreshing and far more interesting than this rather tedious nationality debate. 

[Two Ton Ted]

Wait until you hear about the ancestry of our Royal Family...

[Somerset Fulham]

Parts of this thread are how I imagine GB News to be.

[Steeeeeeeeeed]

I thought she was terrific, definitely one of the highlights of the Games for me. I liked watching her focus and concentration when she was watching on the sidelines too.

Fair Play to her it's basically like a modernised form of Gymnastics, which historically has had teenagers in it too.

The guts.she showed in keeping going when she has messed up twice, and then succeeding in the third go was Great.

Just a bit of a culture shock moment for some really I think. I bet there's loads of young girls wanting to buy skateboards now, good luck to them.

[legana]

Parts of this thread are how I imagine GB News to be.

:005:

[Dr Quinzel]

Parts of this thread are how I imagine GB News to be.

Bang on the money

[Jim©]

Parts of this thread are how I imagine GB News to be.

Absolutely. It's like Farage has infiltrated this forum.

[CorkCity]

Am I the only one that thinks these ages are way too young for this level of competiton.
Children should be children and not training for sport on a world stage woith all that that goes with it.

It was brilliant what she did but I find it all very unsettling and think there should a minimum age limit...

Totally agree. The under 16´s should not take part in adult competitions. Why do you think there are no 12 year old shot putters, boxers, pole vaulters etc. Their bodies are not developed enough. Pushy parents & coaches don´t help either.

I'm opened minded about things, but I agree with this. I also don't think the Transgender weightlifter should have been allowed to compete with the women. Not against transgender people whatsoever, but the fact she had started her transition at the age of 33 or whatever, meant she still has the muscle strength of a man. Justice was done when she failed all her lifts to be honest.

I feel sorry for the transgender weightlifter, she worked her balls off to get to the Olympics  :005:

[Statto]

As usual it's the same old tribal rubbish.

One lot says that to be "English" you have to be Anglo-Saxon and both born and raised on this soil.

The other lot says that any sense of national identity is racist (oh and so is wanting to leave the EU or watching GB News apparently) and anyone, anywhere should be able to represent GB in the Olympics if that's what makes them happy.

Of course the reality is somewhere in the middle and a somewhat multifaceted, complex issue.

[KingofCheese]

Am I the only one that thinks these ages are way too young for this level of competiton.
Children should be children and not training for sport on a world stage woith all that that goes with it.

It was brilliant what she did but I find it all very unsettling and think there should a minimum age limit...

Totally agree. The under 16´s should not take part in adult competitions. Why do you think there are no 12 year old shot putters, boxers, pole vaulters etc. Their bodies are not developed enough. Pushy parents & coaches don´t help either.

If you think that these kids can't handle it I suspect that is because you don't have kids involved in competions yet - my daughter did disco freestyle comps and it is intense and hard and they have to travel all over the place to do them. i know that this is the same in lots of other sports and activities so they will not be phased by doing the genteel Olympics!.