The Chief Executives of Sport Northern Ireland, UK Sport, Sport England, sportscotland, and Sport Wales have joined forces to tackle racism and racial inequalities across their nations by developing a collective plan to help build a sporting community that is properly reflective of the societies they represent.
The Sport Councils have launched the #TellYourStory campaign, asking people from Black, Asian and other Minority Ethnic communities to share their knowledge and understanding of accessing, being involved in, or being excluded from sport.
The Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University has been appointed to bring together existing data on race and ethnicity in sport to identify gaps within these records, gain greater insight into participation and progression barriers. Both pieces of work will make clear recommendations for change that the Sports Councils can take forward.
Antoinette McKeown, CEO of Sport Northern Ireland, said “The only way we can begin to understand and deconstruct systematic racism and discrimination, is by recognising the lived experiences of specific communities, their underrepresentation in many areas of sport and the experience they face with racism. These voices will add further weight to the data collection and make us more accountable for the shortfalls and a clear means of ensuring an anti-racist approach in all we do. The #TellYourStory because our stories matter campaign will allow us to highlight the varying and often multi-layered forms of discrimination and racism impacting communities and creates a safe and supportive environment to hear and value personal stories, within the context of race and sport. Sport NI is determined to maximise the power of sport to change lives, and ensure we all realise the benefits of sport and this work is critical to inform our strategic actions”.
“We want to create the opportunity to hear lived experiences and we are offering the platform for necessary changes to be made to ensure the sport we all know and love is truly inclusive. The campaign offers a safe space for those we need to hear from most to be open and honest and through this we will be presented with clear learnings and recommendations for change. Through the #TellYourStory campaign 20 individual interviews will be conducted and 25 virtual forums involving 375 people will be hosted with 600 personal stories collected in total. These opportunities will allow people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities to talk frankly about their experiences, including historical and present-day issues, in a safe environment and without criticism or prejudice. The campaign will run until Monday 15 February 2021, to take part please visit here.”
The data study undertaken by the Sport Industry Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University will focus on the workforce in sport – from volunteers to the paid workforce and senior leadership – as well as participants in sport – from grassroots to talent and high-performance.
Both pieces of work are expected to be completed by March after which both pieces of work will be consolidated together to produce a final report and a roadmap for action as part of the Tackling Racism & Racial Inequality in Sport initiative.
