Systemic change is needed at the grassroots too | Opinion

A recent report by UK charity Sported found that black, Asian and minority ethnic people can feel “patronised and poorly represented” within the community sport sector. Nicola Walker, chief executive of Sported, explains what needs to be done to remove racism and encourage equity at the grassroots level.

• By Nicola Walker
• Posted: November 23 2020

From Premier League footballers ‘taking the knee’ to athlete activism across the USA, professional sport has responded strongly as racism raised its ugly head throughout 2020.

At grassroots and community level, though, evidence is harder to find when it comes to uncovering what action is being taken and, most importantly, what systemic change is actually happening. Which is why at my organisation, Sported, the UK-wide network of 2,600 community sport clubs and grassroots groups, we have remained focused on our own game.

Our staff felt angry and repulsed in the wake of George Floyd’s death, and then compelled to act as the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement grew. As we shared and read resources, listened to each other’s experience, and examined our own diversity across staff and management, we realised that many of us hadn’t understood or empathised sufficiently with the discrimination being experienced by black people in the US or the UK. That’s why, as a network, we saw it as a priority to gather the views of our own member organisations, by investing significant resources and spending many hours in focus groups and on phone calls.

We know that many of these organisations serve geographical areas where a high proportion of people identify as black, and have suffered disproportionately during the Covid-19 pandemic, not only through the high incidence of infection amongst these communities but also because it is these organisations that are hit the hardest when grassroots sport is shut down during lockdown. The real concern is that many simply won’t be around to resume the vital role they play in their local community, if and when the nation finally recovers, with one in four groups worrying they won’t exist in six months’ time.

The result of our focus groups saw their voices and experience come together in our latest research piece, ‘Tackling racism at the grassroots’. Reading the report feels like peeling back the surface of community sport and shining a much-needed spotlight on the true experience of the staff and volunteers running these organisations.

We have tried to do justice to their openness in our analysis – a story which is best told through direct quotes. Simple quotes, such as:

“I want to see more black faces in positions of power.”

Clearly, a major concern is both the reality of racism within sport, and the lack of diversity at management level to help resolve this. Sporting Equals have stated that 40 per cent of black, Asian and minority ethnic participants say their experiences of local sport or leisure clubs has been negative, compared to just 14 per cent of white British.

“People like us should be in there making the strategies.”

This lack of representation in the governance of sport was felt keenly by community leaders. Given the talent involved in compiling the report and calibre of feedback, I can only agree with the comment. And yet despite a desire to be more diverse, many sports governing bodies continue to fail to solicit the contribution of black leaders.

“It’s not until they invite me into the conversation that they realise the valid contributions we are making. We shouldn’t have to work so hard to prove ourselves before we even get invited to the discussion.”

I’m happy to see immediate changes in response to the latest BLM movement, particularly the commitment of sports councils to commission work to understand racism and racial inequalities. Through the Perrett Laver network, new appointments are being made to sporting boards and the views of those directly affected are being highlighted. It’s also encouraging to see Sport England’s blog on black voices, the first of which was written by one of the participants of our focus group, The Blair Project.

“It’s aimed at us, but it’s not written for us.”

Given that many of the community groups in our network do amazing work on shoe-string budgets, access to funding is key. Feedback from black leaders was that funding streams aimed at increasing diversity are generally not written by people from diverse backgrounds. For example, participants explained they feel they must write a proposal to tackle racism, but not how they see racism – how the white-led funding organisation sees racism. The funder then suffers from an ‘affinity bias’ towards white-led groups. (Affinity bias is the unconscious tendency to get along or side with others who are like us.)

“Whatever we feed in, the strategy will still be played out through a white lens.”

There is a positive movement to change this with greater black, Asian or minority ethnic representation within funders. But it is an issue that Sported also needs to ensure we take note of as we support our network; for example, by creating grant application forms that serve the purpose they are designed for.

“The experiences I had growing up, I don’t want that for the next generation.”

At Sported, we appreciate that not all of these challenges can be resolved overnight. But we know that change must come at a greater pace, and at every level, if sport is to be properly reflective and representative of society.

It’s estimated that around 40 per cent of people in the UK will come from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds by the year 2061. Considering that just one per cent of coaches who responded to a recent Sport & Recreation Alliance survey of sports organisations were black, sport clearly has some way to go to get its house in order.

Systemic change is needed in community sport to remove racism and encourage equity. To effectively do this we all have to start listening to those who know best – i.e. those with lived experiences.

Sported wants to give black community leaders the platform to do so. We have a long-term commitment to support and convey their voice to decision-makers. We acknowledge change is required and commit to including those at the forefront in this process.