It’s all about
CHOICE By Peter Downs
T
here’s no doubt about it. Inclusion and diversity is on trend in Australian sport. Being inclusive is the thing to be! Sports now have Inclusion Officers engaged to design programs that create greater diversity in sport participation. Some sports have entire departments dedicated to inclusion and diversity. Sport is increasingly reflecting our changing communities. All this is welcome and many would argue, long overdue. Coaching is front and centre of the inclusion movement. So it should be. The role of the coach is critical to engaging and encouraging anyone to get involved, and stay involved in sport. But what does it take to be an inclusive coach? What does an inclusive coach need to know and do to be inclusive?
What is inclusion, diversity and discrimination?
No doubt you’ve seen words like inclusion, diversity, integration or even mainstreaming as it relates to coaching. What do all these mean? Is there a difference between these terms? Well, that’s up to you! There are many different definitions for these terms you
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can find online. But, definitions are not that important or very helpful. Whatever you call it, inclusion is about your coaching being open to everyone, without unfair discrimination. A good way to think about it is to consider your local community and the choices you offer to participate in coaching. Who is in your community? Not all communities are the same. A community on the north shore of Sydney is not the same as a community in Bendigo or Toowoomba? Does your coaching group reflect your local community? Are people missing? If so, why are they missing? Are there choices you can offer that will encourage more diverse groups?
It’s all about choices and recognising unfair discrimination
A practical way to look at inclusion is to think about it in terms of the choices you offer. For example, to meet demand
