NEWS Edition 84 March 2012
Equality in Sport
A monthly e-news publication
Welcome
Hello and welcome to the 84th newsletter. The first piece in the general information of interest section is notice of Scotland’s largest ever research into homophobia and transphobia in sport. Unfortunately though, closing date for contributions is 26 March, so respond immediately if you would like to take part.
The introduction to the previous edition of this publicationhighlighted that 2012 wasan excellent opportunity to diversify your sport.This was supported by the article from the English Institute of Sport, confirming elitism does not prevent diversification. In fact, true elitism should encourage it. Diversity and inclusion, reducing underrepresentation, or whatever term you wish to use, has traditionally concentrated on disability, gender and ethnicity within sport and many would argue that statistics show, even this focus, has had limited success. Certainly the traditional 3 groups should not be ignored and, as highlighted in the second article below, there are numerous examples of good practice being delivered.
Thinking has now moved on and sport also targets projects at other groups, such as religious belief, age and Lesbian, Gay,Bisexual and Transgender people. But willthis extended focus realise the full benefits of the high profile sport presently has? Should we be looking to go beyond the groups covered in equality legislation if sport is to achieve even greater diversity?
True, this has partly occurred, with there being projects and funded programmes that target specific geographical areas, deprived communities and health inequalities.But the first article below looks at one group, homeless people, that may not have been considered by many organisations. The author, Lindsey Horsfield, has emphasised how keen she is to work with sporting agencies that would like to involve homeless people in their activities and the article itself, once again, highlights the importance of close partnership working to achieve success. Lindsey is not unique and sport needs to welcome and make the most of such offers.
So, the double challenge to us all to achieve a legacy from this year, don’t just think high performance and don’t just think traditional!
Please forward this newsletter to anyone you think may be interested, or get them to contact Roger Clifton at if they would like a copy sent directly to them. The deadline for material for the next edition is Friday 13April.
This edition contains features on:
- A homelessness project
- A Basketball initiative to engage various ethnic minority communities
- Football tackling LGBT discrimination
- Paralympic news
- A variety of general information of interest and new resources of use
- Achievements
- Calendar of forthcoming events.
Produced by VAGA Associates
Enquiries: 020 8521 7505
1
Sport helping make sure no one returns to the streets
Our thanks to Lindsey Horsfield, Sports Development Officer at Homeless Link for providing the article below.
As we all know, sport can play an important role when it comes to improving well-being and confidence. Aiming High: Sport for All, a three year project delivered by Homeless Link(the umbrella body for homeless charities) aims to bring these benefits to people who have experienced homelessness.
The sports project, funded by the Football Foundation and the London Housing Foundation, has been running since April 2010. The project was set up because physical activity has been shown to be instrumental in helping individuals moving towards living independently. Sports activities also create opportunities for education, training and employment as well as building confidence, skills and important social networks.
Our primary aim is to increase numbers of homeless people participating in sports across England. Running over three years, we hope to achieve a number of outcomes, including:
- Homelessness agencies have greater capacity to deliver football and other sports activities on site.
- Homeless people have better access to mainstream football and sports activities.
- Homeless people benefit from involvement in sports via improved skills, confidence, self-esteem, health and well-being, all of which should help them to live independently.
As the Sports Development Officer, I work on a daily basis with homelessness services and the sports sector to help them develop enhanced sports activities accessible to people experiencing homelessness. To do this, I help agencies understand the value that sport can have for their clients.
All the evidence tells us that sport and activities should offer intrinsic benefits to individuals accessing homelessness services. However, before the project was rolled out, there was a need to understand the specific challenges and opportunities of the sports interventions offered in the homelessness sector. Groundswell (a leading charity in the practise of peer research with homeless or formerly homeless individuals) was commissioned to enable the voice of homeless people to be heard and ensure appropriately designed research tools for the client group.
Barriers to participation for people experiencing homelessness
As a starting point, Groundswell set out to identify the barriers, both real and perceived, that prevent access to sport for people experiencing homelessness. They established that money, health and distance to travel were the most significant barriers to people accessing sport.
Full structural and personal barriers identified by the research.Structural barriers / Personal barriers
Cost of access / participation / Lack of confidence
Distance to activities / facilities / Lack of motivation
Cost of travel / Poor physical health (exacerbated by diet)
Poorly promoted opportunities / Drug and alcohol use or dependency
Hazard of public spaces (e.g. parks) / Lack of awareness of opportunities
Stigma attached to ‘homelessness’
What does support to agencies look like?
To date over 150 homelessness services have been supported through the project. These services have unique challenges and opportunities depending on locality, client group, organisation-type and facilities. Support given is tailored to these needs but generally includes:
- Encouraging client involvement from the start to ensure that the activities offered by a service are accessible, relevant and offer individuals an opportunity to develop.
- Identifying local sports opportunities that services can refer clients to and/or engage with themselves.
- Helping services learn from good practice in other areas, including helping with ideas, funding and project management.
- Brokering partnerships with local sports clubs and teams, university sports departments (to encourage student placements in the sector), local authorities and other homelessness services.
- Organising and running events and national conferences for the sector as an opportunity to network and share good practice.
Sports in action - a case study
A hostel for young men in Manchester was keen to establish a league for people accessing homelessness services in the city. They hoped that this would identify suitable participants for their courses on health and well-being, employability and tenancy sustainment. Homeless Link’s Sports Development Officer facilitated visits for the project leader to similar football leagues in other parts of the country, identified key partnerships and detailed how the league could operate. Funding was secured through brokered partnerships with the CountyFA and a local sports facility. The league is now operating and various training and education opportunities have been developed for participants. The sport project’s experience, contacts and planning tools enabled the hostel staff to achieve their ambitions and they will also share their learning with other parts of the country.
Looking forward – beyond Aiming High: Sport for All
The programme of research by Groundswell has produced several reports which include recommendations on sports provision in the sector. Further research is planned, including one focusing on the particular challenges and needs of homeless women.
Another major achievement of the project to date is the formation of a new national charity – the Homeless Football Association. The Homeless FA was established to ensure the network of organisations developed through sports project was sustained. These organisations will form the membership of the Homeless FA, who will continue to encourage good practice, learning and help develop in the homeless football sector. From this year, the charity is also going to be taking on the running of the national Homeless World Cup teams (men’s and women’s). To find out more about this organisation please visit their website or contact .
This September, the learning from the project will be discussed at a national conference. If you would like to register your interest, please get in touch.
To contact the Homeless Link’s Sports Development Officer please email or visit
Using Basketball to engage Ethnic Minority Communities across Sheffield
Our thanks to Michelle Dent, Partnership Development Officer at South Yorkshire Sport, for the piece below on an innovative initiative.
Friday 17 February saw the English Institute of Sport - Sheffield host the very first InterNATIONal basketball 3 v 3 tournament. An England Basketball initiative to engage the various ethnic communities from across the city through the power of sport in the Olympic year was a huge success with over 100 people participating throughout the day.
A partnership event uniting Broadsword Ltd, the Sheffield Basketball League, South Yorkshire Sport and the One Health Sharks Sheffield saw one of the largest 3 v 3 participation events Sheffield has ever had. An under 16 tournament with first round games being played in the morning saw the ‘Elites’ and the ‘Chunkies’ qualify for the final that was played before a near capacity crowd during half time of the One Health Sharks Sheffield British Basketball League contest with Guildford Heat. The under 16s teams were joined by the open age qualifiers of Zambia and a team made up predominantly of the Brownell brothers, aptly called ‘Brownells & Co’. The eventual winners were the ‘Elites’ and ‘Brownells & Co’ who both won close games by just 2 points.
Tournament organiser Nick Dawson, England Basketball’s Participation Co-ordinator (North) said: “This was a fantastic start point for the project particularly the very well attended open age event. England Basketball are funded by Sport England to increase participation in the 16+ age group and our project just shows how popular the sport is at this age group across the many varied BME groups in the city. We now intend to take the event outdoors over the summer with some additional Sport England Small Grants funding that the Sheffield Basketball League has secured. This event is just the beginning!”
The event had players from a variety of different nationalities highlighting the global appeal basketball has. Teams from countries such as Zambia, Philippines, Zimbabwe, China and the USA amongst others were represented. Michelle Dent, Partnership Development Officer from South Yorkshire Sport, said: “It was brilliant to see so many different ethnicities represented at one sporting event. When the key partners sat round a table a few months ago we never imagined we would have such a great response, it just goes to show the appeal of Basketball. I can’t wait to see how it develops when it’s taken to the local outdoor courts and parks across the city over the summer, as we regularly find that many communities are not keen to travel around the city to play sport. Hopefully by engaging with more local communities, the summer 3 v 3 city wide tournament will be even bigger than the winter event catalysting more players into continued participation in sport!”
Peter Griffiths from Sheffield Basketball League (SBL) highlighted: “A large amount of work has gone into this project so it was fantastic to see so many teams and participants at the event. The 3 v 3 format has worked well in other cities and has been something we have wanted to do for a number of years so we are pleased to be able to put such an event on in Sheffield. The SBL has recently received funding support from Sport England which will allow us to continue our development work and hold more 3v3 events during the summer which will increase basketball participation in the city. Photos and videos of all our events are on our website along with information on the league, events and opportunities to participate.”
FA launches action plan for promoting the inclusion of LGBT people in Football
Our thanks to Funke Awoderu, Equality Manager at the Football Association, for providing the update below.
At a high-profile launch of the Opening Doors and Joining In campaign at Wembley Stadium, respected names from across the football family came together on Monday 20 February 2012.
The event featured a selection of speakers with first-hand experience of the issues including Ben Summerskill, chief executive of Stonewall, and former England defenders Graeme Le Saux and John Scales. There was also Premier League, Football League, League Managers Association and Professional Footballers’ Association representation. All present confirmed their support for a drive to help lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGB&T) communities get actively involved without fear of discrimination or prejudice.
The FA General Secretary, Alex Horne, opened the conference and set the tone for a frank exchange of views which demonstrated how far the game has come, but also how far is still to go. The key going forward was to ensure an environment where discrimination will not be tolerated. He said: “If you ask me whether there are any gay professional footballers, you are asking the wrong question. What today and the action plan is about is ensuring that anyone can participate in our game without fear, regardless of their sexuality. If someone is gay, we want them to feel secure if they choose to be open and know they will not be subject to abuse or ridicule.”
FA Director of Football Development Sir Trevor Brooking also shared his insight. In recalling his playing days and ongoing work with aspiring youngsters, he spoke of the need for greater education and setting the right example, saying: “We have to make sure we treat everyone the same.”
England Women’s head coach Hope Powell spoke in support of the matter being discussed in such an open forum. “I think it’s obviously an issue that’s been long standing,” she said, “the fact that the FA has taken the lead is very positive with their agenda and with what they hope to do with this campaign. So I think the whole day went really well.”
Home Office Minister Lynne Featherstone made clear that whilst this was another positive step and a “red letter day”, there was still work to be done. “Everything I heard today made me think that this was a genuine, committed serious step forward. This is day one; we’ll see where we are on day 366. That will be the test.”
There were decisive words from Darren Bailey, the FA’s Director of Football Governance and Regulation, who pledged that strong action was being taken in terms of the rules and processes of the game. He also acknowledged that reporting of issues was key in terms of effective governance.He said: “Homophobic and transphobic abuse is unacceptable and will be punished. It has no place in society and no place in football. We have the rules, we have the commitment and we have made a promise to change the culture of the game. What we need is to know when abuse happens.”
A successful session concluded with an address from Club England Managing Director Adrian Bevington, who underlined that there was a desire to have a ‘so what’ mentality in the game, should anyone choose to be open about their sexuality.
Work would continue to remove barriers and to ensure an eternal legacy where individuals are judged only on their football merits.“We want to ensure that if any player wishes to be open about their sexuality, then they can do it with the full support of the FA. We want a "So what?" culture in football.”
Click ‘Opening Doors and Joining In’ to download the FA’s Action Plan for including lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGB&T) people in football, 2012-2016.
Click Footage and comments to see supporting material for the launch event.
A variety of Paralympic updates
Queen to open Paralympics
Queen Elizabeth, who celebrates 60 years on the throne this year, will open both the London Olympics and Paralympics. The monarch also opened the Montreal Olympics in 1976 and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, opened the 1956 Melbourne Games on her behalf. This, however, will be the first time she has opened a Paralympics. "The Paralympic Games will undoubtedly be a time of extraordinary pride for our nation, and it is fitting that Her Majesty will declare us underway," said London 2012 chairman Sebastian Coe.