For many of those involved in the sport, greyhound racing is very much a family affair which is passed down from generation to generation. No more so than for Emily Wallis, daughter to champion trainer Mark Wallis, who has grown up in the world of greyhound racing and is now looking at how the sport can evolve to appeal to a younger generation. Here, Emily talks about growing up in the sport and gives her thoughts on how we can use social media to spread awareness of greyhound racing and its canine stars.

“Ever since I can remember I’ve been involved in greyhound racing – I’ve practically grown up at Imperial Kennels. In the week, whenever I’m not at school, I spend my time at the kennels and I also have a Saturday job there. I help to sweep the kennels out and let the dogs out in the day and then I usually go racing at night.

My earliest memory of racing was probably when we won the Derby with Blonde Snapper in 2012. I can remember watching him cross the finish line and everyone was jumping up and down and hugging – it was an amazing experience.

Now I actually own my own little bitch at the kennels called Far Froman Angel. Angel started in A10 at Henlow and at the end of last year she won two open races at Romford which was really special – they were only small races but I felt like I had won the Derby. I have so many favourites at the kennels but Angel is particularly special to me – I could talk about her all day!

Looking after the dogs is definitely the thing I love most about greyhound racing. It’s great to see them come into the kennel for the first time and then watch their personalities develop. Seeing them go through their racing career and working through the grades is just fantastic.

I see myself staying in the sport one million percent. I’m going to Sixth Form next year to study Media so I would love to go into the media side of racing – although I love the dogs too much to ever give up my Saturday job. To me, social media is key to the future of the sport. It’s a great tool for showcasing the welfare side of greyhound racing and how well looked-after and happy our dogs are, both on and off the track.

A good example of this is the response we got to a video we shared on social media a few months ago showing what our dogs were up to during lockdown. The video got over 25,000 views in total and people have commented underneath saying they didn’t realise how much love, care and attention our dogs receive. It completely changed the misconceptions they had about greyhound welfare.

Social media’s also a great way to showcase how fantastic greyhounds are as a breed and their different personalities. For the Silver Salver final at Central Park last Sunday, GBGB shared profiles of all the dogs on Twitter and that’s exactly what we need to be doing. Greyhounds are happy, healthy animals with different personalities – that’s our sport’s unique selling point. It also makes the racing side of things more interesting as punters can learn more about the dogs, what their favourite treat is, what their kennel name is and really get to know them better.

I’m excited about the future of our sport and I would definitely encourage other young people to get involved – it’s the best job in the world! If you’re not sure where to start, my advice would be to find your nearest trainer and ask them if you can visit their kennels. Most trainers would be perfectly happy for you to help out and walk a few dogs and would really welcome new kennelhands. Alternatively, when the situation allows, get yourself down to the local track and get a feel for how things work there.”