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For those that wish to begin incorporating inclusion efforts into their organisations or sport offerings, now is the time to implement some of these first practical steps to help make that a reality.

This article was submitted as part of our call for reshaping the future of sport and development.

As sport resumes again after restrictions and uncertainties due to COVID-19, our sector wields a unique opportunity. As we reanimate sport in its various forms around the world, we could resurrect a mirror image of our pre-2020 sporting landscape – or we can thoughtfully assess its weaknesses and bring to life a better representation of what the world of sport could be. One important area that deserves wide scale attention is that of inclusion.

How should inclusion – the removal of traditional divisions or barriers based on gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic standing, religion, culture, location, or any other demographic – manifest in sport? Does every sport entity have a responsibility to implement inclusion practice? This question has increasingly taken a forefront position within the sporting community.

Many of today’s sport organisations value inclusion efforts and want to implement them in some way. However, it can be difficult to know where to start. This piece will outline some of the fundamentals of operationalizing inclusive sport.

Know your stakeholders

Incorporating inclusion efforts must begin with learning first. Every sport entity involves numerous stakeholders. These include participants or members, potential participants, their families, volunteers or practitioners, leadership, board members, partners, and the broader contextual community including local populations, legislators, other local sporting organisations or services, and more.

Only when you have an in-depth understanding of the communities your organisation affects can you make effective decisions about incorporating inclusion efforts into your offerings. Inclusion efforts won’t take off if you aren’t working to build relationships with the communities or demographics you hope to include. Incorporating inclusion is also more effective when you know the organisational landscape in your community and how to partner effectively with other groups who might also be working on increasing inclusive options and practice.

Inclusion efforts require strong communication channels between your organisation and all the stakeholders that will be affected by your work. As you get to know these various entities (both internal and external), you can begin to plan how each one may play a role in the process and how each part of the puzzle can support stronger inclusion.

Design your delivery

Once you know your stakeholders and have learned what kinds of offerings will contribute most effectively to creating inclusive sport offerings, this needs to be translated into action. This either involves adapting your current activities or programming or creating new ones. Several important considerations should be kept in mind as you begin to create your delivery strategy.

Links and pathways must be thought through and effectively outlined for any participant who engages in inclusive programming before you launch. For some types of inclusion efforts, the goal might eventually be to make it possible for participants to engage with mainstream programming in the future. How will you facilitate this journey? For others, it may be that participants should be linked with other support organisations during or after your programme. How will this be enacted?

Facilities are just as crucial as your programming. For instance, if your goal is to include more persons with disabilities in your programmes, this might not actually prove feasible if they can’t physically attend.

Assumptions must constantly be questioned. Designing your inclusion offering should ideally involve members of the demographics you are hoping to include from the very beginning of the process to help point out places where misunderstandings or assumptions (however well-intentioned) can hinder a delivery’s effectiveness.

Finally, deliverer training/competency areas must be accounted for before launching an inclusion programme or strategy. Inclusion programming can require robust training and skill to deliver successfully. It is very important to make sure any staff, practitioners, or volunteers that will be involved are well equipped.

Measure and improve

Assessment is a critical part of every sport delivery effort. From the planning stages through to post-delivery and iteration, measurement and evaluation (M/E) will help you capture a clear picture of your delivery, gain helpful feedback, correct any problems, and improve your inclusion programming over time.

Measure the impact of your programme to gain an accurate understanding of the ways it is affecting your stakeholders. These impacts can be both positive and negative. It’s important to understand as fully as possible how your programme or offering is impacting not only the target demographic(s) you hope to include but the rest of your organisation and other stakeholders as applicable.

Create a feedback loop with pertinent stakeholders. This will help you learn what works and what doesn't. It will help provide actionable insights that can help you iterate. Instituting a clear mechanism for providing feedback - whether this is a survey, a tip box in your facility, an email, a monthly meeting, something completely different, or all of the above - will make it possible to harness helpful feedback that might otherwise have been lost.

Institute an improvement mechanism. Receiving critique or feedback but never assessing or applying it wastes the value that feedback could have created for your programme or organisation. Make sure you see the process to the finish. Include feedback items in board or staff meetings at appropriate intervals. Put a simple channel in place for making sure any pertinent pieces of feedback get to the right individuals. Design effective or appropriate ways of evaluating and implementing feedback when necessary. Instituting a feedback process within your organisation can fundamentally change the way it grows and improves over time.

In closing

The sporting landscape is slowly shifting, and inclusion is an area that is gaining attention and traction. For those that wish to begin incorporating inclusion efforts into their organisations or sport offerings, now is the time to implement some of these first practical steps to help make that a reality.

______________________________________________________________________________

Michael Woods, Founder and Managing Director of Inclusive Sport Design. Inclusive Sport Design helps sport people, clubs and organisations make inclusion happen. It offers robust resources, including a fuller version of this inclusion model at its website plus other services including consulting, Inclusion Assessments, and training.

Lauren Schwaar, Founder of Fathom Performance. Fathom Performance is a consulting service and easy-to-use app that exists to take the pain out of reporting, impact measurement practice, and Measurement and Evaluation (M/E). More helpful resources and information about their app are available at their website.

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