Thank you for your support
As you may know, initiating and funding Sport Allies has been the Warwick Rowers’ way of saying thank you to the LGBT+ community for your fantastic support over the last few years. Your support has enabled us to become a more competitive club at every level, for both male and female rowers, and we plan to honour that support and that commitment by continuing to make Sport Allies the sole recipient of all our charitable giving.
It takes time to build an organization and create the tools to achieve its aims. Sport Allies was just an idea only 18 months ago, and there is still a long way to go but, thanks to the support of everyone who has bought a calendar, a film, a t-shirt or simply promoted us on Twitter, those of us working on the Sport Allies project are making significant progress. So thank you. We couldn’t have done it without your help.
We hope that the Sport Allies initiative will make it possible for our LGBT+ supporters, and the young people who will follow them, to one day enjoy sport free from fear of homophobia.
So, with thanks to those working at the coalface on the project, here’s an update on what Sport Allies has been working on over the last few months.
Formalising the organisation with a strong team
After a period of research, organisational development and board recruitment, the initial group of Sport Allies Board members met formally for the first time in November 2014.
The board members include Warwick University students, education experts, youth charity leaders, finance professionals and senior media figures. We will publish a list of board members with biographies once the full board has been finalised.
Research: The foundation stone of an effective response
One of the key tasks completed during our development period and prior to the first formal Board meeting was a research exercise leading to a report on homophobia in sport. This review of the literature focused on looking at evidence-based research into incidences of homophobia in sport, and how it differed between different sports and genders.
This initial review produced some very exciting results. The most surprising finding was that homophobic behaviour in the sporting arena may be based more on the notion of “difference” rather than on the sexuality of the person being bullied or excluded. We wondered about this but, as several LGBT+ members of the Sport Allies Board as well as some of our supporters were able to confirm, they were being bullied in sport long before adolescence – it was their “otherness” that marked them out, and specifically their variation from the perceived ideals of masculinity and femininity.
It follows that it is not just the LGBT+ community that is affected by homophobia: it is anyone who doesn’t conform to a hetero-normative ideal of how genders should behave. Even those who are apparently best-adapted to survival in a hetero-normative culture may be shutting down a key part of themselves to preserve their status. It is a “boys shouldn’t be ballet dancers and girls shouldn’t play rugby” culture, and it limits us all. Two of the rowers touched on this in a conversation in our 2015 documentary film.
We also know from the research that participation in team sports is far less likely among LGBT+ people, which is why the majority of known gay sport stars are typically found in sports like running, swimming and equestrianism.
Sport Allies motivation and aims
“Sport is really where you make a lot of your friends and learn a lot about yourself and develop a lot of you social skills as well. And for anyone to be excluded from that because of who they are is just plain wrong.” Laurence Hulse, Rower
Sport Allies is important because when people have a good experience of sport, it enhances their lives beyond simply being fit. As many of us have said, being part of a sports club and working as a team has given us life skills and brought us friendships that have given us a fantastic start to our adult lives.
Unfortunately, sport has not kept up with the rest of society, where ‘difference’ is more widely accepted. There is an innate conservatism attached to sport as entertainment and this reinforces hetero normative values in sport and among its audience.
After a thorough review of the evidence, the board has decided that Sport Allies will focus its attention on team sports because this is where “gender policing” is most rampant and where homophobia causes the most damage to LGBT+ people.
The meeting noted that: “the fact that team sports are often felt to be ‘off limits’to LGBT+ people results in them being excluded from one of the key cohesive team experiences. It is not acceptable that anyone is openly excluded from what is a “major shared cultural arena” as well as a key pathway to personal growth.”
This fundamental block to the life chances of young LGBT+ people is what Sport Allies wants to tackle.
Next Steps
A group of Board members have recently met to consider Sport Allies’ draft mission and vision statements, and to set out key strategic objectives for achieving these goals. We look forward to bringing you a further update once the strategy has been agreed by the Board.