cycling
A Program to support Cycling Clubs to be inclusive
for all
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Cycling Victoria
Cycling for All Toolkit
Purpose of the toolkit
Cycling has traditionally not been an inclusive sport. As such we are seeking to work with our clubs to enhance the sport as sport that is inclusive to all.
Cycling Victoria has identified a strategic aim to become a more inclusive and welcoming sport. While we continue on our journey we now see the need to help support our clubs implementing this aim and becoming more inclusive themselves. We have termed the program ‘Cycling for All’. This theme is in line with the UCI who have embraced all forms of cycling. As such Cycling for All is a program to help support inclusion in your club. Our view is that by doing this, there will be benefits to your club, your members and your community. We look forward to working with clubs to implement this exciting and unique program for cycling.
Cycling Victoria acknowledge Vichealth ‘Everyone Wins’ program upon which the Cycling for All Toolkit has been based.
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Factors that will influence your participation in the program. Every cycling club is different – large, small and focuses of your committee and support you have in the local community. We are therefore committed to working with your club to help where necessary and make changes to practices and culture that will help your club and your riders. We are also aware that many clubs are doing great work. This program also acknowledges that clubs may already have in place practices that support welcoming and inclusive sporting environments. For those clubs you will receive acknowledgement and support in areas where it fits best for you.
How will being inclusive benefit my club Beyond our traditional base of men between 18-35 cycling has traditionally had low participation numbers in our clubs and events. As a result we have been unable to capture a huge sector of the market who may be interested in participating in the sport. By reviewing our practices and creating welcoming and inclusive club environment has many advantages for clubs (as well as their members) including: More participants More volunteers Greater Membership A richer club environment where members learn from each others’ backgrounds and experiences
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Cycling Victoria
Cycling for All Toolkit
Why is it important? Cycling is a great sport! It provides opportunities that are unmatched in virtually any other sport and lifelong participation in all forms. However the sport currently misses large sections of the community who do not participate in our club environment. The program and associated actions help to take steps to ensure clubs are providing a welcoming environment to ensure they are able to recruit individuals from all areas of the community.
Everyone should be welcomed to cycling. In every sport there are traditional factors that limit participation such as transport, cost and knowledge. Our research has shown that the cycling environment, which has tended to be male Anglo-Australian, has a number of steps to take in order to ensure that less tangible barriers to participation are reduced or eliminated. The program is designed to ensure that clubs take positive proactive steps so that they can ensure individuals, no matter what their background, can participate in all forms of the sport. The program is designed to provide clubs with the momentum for change to become more inclusive and welcoming.
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Initiating change: the action areas
Aim of the action area
There are five key areas for action that can be addressed to help clubs create welcoming and inclusive environments
Why is it important?
Champions of change are active
Change does not happen without leadership and commitment. Committee members are elected because people believe they are capable of influencing their club’s future. They are responsible for defining the club’s values and vision. But committee members need the support of others in working towards changing the club’s culture. These are ‘champions of change’, and play a vital role in the club. While they’re most likely to be club members, they may also be found in your local community – for example, community or business leaders or volunteers.
Expectations about behaviour are met
Determining what the club is known for and stands for should be clearly shown in a vision statement that is supported by a member protection policy (or your sport’s welfare policy) and a code of conduct. These should be developed and/or reviewed and distributed before the season starts to promote positive, respectful behaviours towards all members, including women, girls, Aboriginal people and people from culturally diverse communities.
Facilities and activities are accessible
Fair and respectful behaviour is really what sport is about, but for many people being able to be an active member comes down to practical issues such as cost and getting to and from games and training. Making your sport more affordable, having clean, safe club rooms and change rooms, and making sure equipment and other club facilities are shared equitably among members will have your club well on the way to being welcoming and inclusive.
Everyone participates
The first step towards increasing participation is to raise community awareness and encourage new and existing members to become involved in all aspects of club life. For women and girls this might mean focusing on increasing their representation in leadership positions (e.g. coaching or being a committee member). Emphasising the social aspects of your club contributes to everyone feeling more comfortable and welcome, regardless of their background. Forming partnerships with local groups and organisations is an important part of this process.
Commitment through ongoing action
Creating and distributing inclusive policies and codes of conduct at the beginning of the season demonstrates the club’s vision. But vision without action won’t bring about lasting change. To maintain a safe and inclusive environment, clubs need to walk the talk, address issues when they arise and to encourage members (and potential new members) to put forward their ideas and provide feedback on all aspects of the club’s environment. Recognising the achievements and contribution of all members contributes to developing a club environment where everyone is valued.
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Cycling Victoria
Cycling for All Toolkit
Where to Start Know your club’s strengths Your club’s members, history and culture will offer you a lot of strengths that you can build on. Before you start on the actions, consider the following: Who can drive change in your club? Are there influential riders, coaches, committee members, parents or other people that can be involved? What’s your club’s culture? What strengths can you build on to increase inclusion? What’s your club’s size and capacity? Do you have resources or the opportunity to apply for funding so you can implement more targeted programs? What connections do you and your members have with the local community? Do you have access to or links with community groups, schools, workplaces, businesses or particular groups of people that can help you make this change, or access new members or resources? What are your links with Cycling Victoria, Regional Sports Assemblies, local and state government, and community services? Are there further resources that they have that can help your club become more inclusive? What’s your local community like? What are the major cultural groups, community strengths, and health, sport and wellbeing needs of your community? Use ‘Know your club and community members’ on the next page to think about this.
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Where to Start Know your club and community members Try to get an idea of who’s currently in your club, and whether there are groups that are in your wider community that aren’t reflected in your membership at the moment. Jot down some thoughts on the different aspects of your club and your local community – whether there is a large or small proportion of a group represented, or if there are particular factors that impact on people. The table below gives some ideas on what to consider:
Gender
Geography
Home
There are many gender Children identities and expressions Young people however, the most commonly recognised are Older people male and female.
Urban, regional or rural
Marital/relationship
Access to services
Family structure
Cultural background
Community Connections
Economic and learning
Health and wellbeing
Aboriginal Culturally diverse
Participation in community activities
Employment
People with physical and/ or mental illness
New arrival and/or refugee Faith/religion
Age
Social networks and supports
Status Language spoken at home
Housing Income level Level of education
People with a disability Level of physical activity
Good places to find out this information include http://vic.cycling.org.au/Get-Involved/Clubs/ClubResources Get in contact with your local council (see www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/localgovernment to find contact information) and consider meeting with a council rep to talk more about your community. Community Indicators Victoria (www.communityindicators.net.au) is another useful resource for finding out who’s in your local area and what their strengths and needs are. When you’re done, take a look at the results and see if there are particular groups underrepresented – could you develop your club so that these groups are more likely to participate? Particularly look at women, girls, people with a disability, Aboriginal people and people from culturally diverse communities, but also think about what might be stopping them from being involved. For example, is it because income levels are low in your community, so cost could be an issue? If lots of people speak a language other than English at home, could language be a barrier? This will help you identify who you should target, but also how you should go about it – the results will give you an idea of which actions will be most important for your club and your community members.
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Cycling Victoria
Cycling for All Toolkit
Know who can help you make your club more inclusive
Have a think about who will be important in leading or participating in making your club more inclusive. You might have great administrators, coaches and members that are happy to be part of this. They will be important, as they’ll be your club champions, and many of the activities in the ‘Champions of change’ action area will involve them. Remember to consider people that aren’t directly involved in the club. They might be riders’ friends, your local council, a community organisation that works underrepresented groups. Also think about who’s already out there in the wider community that you could connect with to help drive change.
The diagram above shows different people and organisations that could help. Think about what role they can play to help make your club more inclusive – they could be a club champion, or provide expert advice, links to the community or material support.
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Inclusive Club Club Recognition Making your club more inclusive is important to Cycling Victoria and we will recognized and reward those clubs who have completed the Action Guide in the Toolkit and received the designation of "Inclusive Club". CV will also work closely with each club as they work through the toolkit and provide support and advice where it is useful. On an annual basis CV will reward those clubs who have completed. In addition clubs can also complete further focus area work sheets on Women and Girls, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities, Aboriginal and Disability.
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Cycling Victoria
Cycling for All Toolkit
Action guide:
Making Cycling Inclusive for All This guide explains some actions that will help in becoming in a more inclusive club. The kits also provides you which tools and resources are available to help you and your club. Your club might already be doing some of these – that’s great, tick them off and have a look for other actions that can build on those strengths. You can do any action area at any time, but try to move through the levels of each area in order.
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Look for actions that address the main barriers for inclusion in your club, or those actions that can use the current skills and knowledge in your club. As your club and your capacity grow, come back to this guide to see if there are more you can do. In addition to the Inclusive Club Standard there are further work sheets to become inclusive clubs in key underrepresented groups: Women and Girls Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities Aboriginal Disability You can access these resources as electronic files or as external links or videos by clicking on the tool name or the resource weblink.
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Cycling Victoria
Cycling for All Toolkit
Actions to Make Your Club More Welcoming and Inclusive
What Resources can help you?
Completed
Champions of Change are Active Committee develops a vision statement reflecting a commitment to welcoming and inclusive sporting environments. Welcoming officer is appointed.
The club President or others appointed by the Committee address issues and concerns.
TOOL 1 – Statement of purpose and values Australian Sports Commission’s Essence of Australian Sport resource (www.ausport.gov.au/ about/essence_of_sport) TOOL 2 – Role of a welcoming officer
Refer to your club’s policies. More resources are available from the Play By the Rules website: Got an issue (www.playbytherules. net.au/got-anissue) and Dealing with complaints (www.playbytherules.net. au/about-complaints/ dealing-with-complaints) TOOL 3 – Dealing with issues and complaints TOOL 4 – Got a problem? (Poster) TOOL 5 – Tips for officials managing conflict
Committee conducts preseason and end-of-season surveys of members to help develop welcoming and inclusive sporting environments.
TOOL 6 – Member survey
Committee adopts policies which are identified areas for improvement in developing a welcoming and inclusive environment.
TOOL 7 – Diversity Policy
Member Protection Information Officer is appointed.
TOOL 8 – Role of a member protection information officer Member protection information officer video on the Play by the Rules website (www. playbytherules.net.au/resources)
Evidence
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Actions to Make Your Club More Welcoming and Inclusive
What Resources can help you?
Completed
Expectations About Behaviour are Met Member protection policy is adopted and placed on the club website. Code of conduct is adopted, placed on the club website and handed out on registration day. Guidelines are adopted that support welcoming and inclusive sporting environments.
Complaint resolution process is developed and communicated to members.
TOOL 9 – Member Protection Policy
TOOL 10 – Code of Conduct
TOOL 11 – Spectator behaviour policy TOOL 12 – Alcohol policy TOOL 13 – Communication and new technology policy Complaint resolution process is developed and communicated to members.
Facilities and Activities are Accessible Action is taken to adapt clubrooms to make them more safe and inclusive.
TOOL 14 – Making a visible commitment to inclusive sport
Action is taken to reduce the costs of participation.
TOOL 15 – Reducing the cost of participation
Everyone Participates Promotional material is welcoming and inclusive and members are recruited broadly within the community. Committee reflects club membership.
TOOL 16 – Join our club flyer
TOOL 18 – Diverse representation on management committees
Commitment through Ongoing Action All members, their partners and families are invited to social events.
TOOL 17 – Emphasising social activities
An action plan to make your commitment visible is developed, implemented and reviewed annually.
TOOL 19 – Action Plan
Evidence
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Cycling Victoria
Cycling for All Toolkit
Cycling For All:
Action Plan Women Actions to Make Your Club More Welcoming and Inclusive
What Resources can help you?
Completed
Champions of Change are Active The Committee discusses best ways to ensure coaches demonstrate respectful behaviour between men and women with their club members and players.
TOOL 26 – Coaches: Respectful Behaviour
Expectations About Behaviour are Met Guidelines to Support Women’s Participation are adopted.
TOOL 29 – CV Racing Guidelines
Women and girls are given information about where to go for help if they are victims of violence.
Victorian Government’s Enough campaign (www. familyviolence.vic.gov.au EnoughCampaign)
Guidelines are adopted that support safe and supportive environments for women and girls. Coaches and administrators complete online scenarios to increase their understanding about sex discrimination and harassment. Respect and responsibility policy is adopted and displayed on the club website.
TOOL 27 – Coach and athlete relationships Appropriate contact during demonstration of skills videoon the Play by the Rules website (www. playbytherules.net.au/resources) Complaint resolution process is developed and communicated to members.
Policy
TOOL 28 – Respect and Responsibility
Evidence
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Actions to Make Your Club More Welcoming and Inclusive
What Resources can help you?
Completed
Facilities and Activities are Accessible Equitable access is provided to facilities, equipment and grounds egardless of gender.
TOOL 20 – Making facilities and equipment accessible for women and girls
Everyone Participates A Come and Try Day is held focusing on targeting participation of women and girls.
Coaches and administrators encourage and support increased participation and representation of women and girls in club activities.
TOOL 21 – Holding a ‘Come and Try Day’
TOOL 22 – Women and girls in leadership positions TOOL 23 – Online interactive scenarios on the Play By the Rules website: Girls playing in boys teams and Pregnancy and participation (www.playbytherules. net.au/interactive-scenarios)
Commitment through Ongoing Action Messages about respect for women are promoted through the season.
TOOL 24 – Messages for club newsletters and websites
The club participates in White Ribbon Day, and/or International Women’s Day.
White Ribbon (www.whiteribbonday.org.au)
Evidence