The TRARIIS Advisory Group continues to work with the sports councils to co-design solutions and check and challenge our plans and actions around anti-racism.
They do so as a valued group of Black community leaders who continue to give their time and expertise to ensure that the sports councils remain grounded in the issue of tackling racism in our sector by working with us to deliver on our commitments.
For far too long we have tinkered around the edge of racism, promising always to do better and to create inclusive environments where Black and Brown people can feel safe, welcome and fully involved in our sector.
Yet we know that the experiences of many culturally diverse communities don’t reflect this narrative as they continue to report distressing instances of racism, hence exposing a broken system that’s almost refusing to mend itself.
UK Sport shared the findings of their World Class Programme athlete data analysis.
This highlighted a lack of strategic investment at the grassroots level, which is stifling talent at the elite end of the spectrum.
The result? Limited to no cultural diversity in some sports and on the national and international podiums of major sporting events like the Olympics and Paralympics.
Our legacy for change
For many the fear of saying the wrong thing is real but using the right language is part of the race-equality journey.
How we refer to, speak about and engage with culturally diverse people on all our platforms is critical.
HTVB's management consultant Hayley Bennett delivered a Let’s Talk About Race session where she explained why not being considered in our language can inhibit the engagement we seek and creates barriers.
Delegates were moved from a position of discomfort and disillusionment to one of confidence and motivation to be better in their communications about race equality.
Jason Fergus, director of Active Essex and one of our board members, facilitated a powerful workshop highlighting how, as a collective, the active partnership CEOs put their words into action following the murder of George Floyd.
Very quickly they mobilised, beyond posting a collective statement, convening all CEOs to dedicate efforts to tackling racism and racial inequality in sport through six commitments, including using insight, reach and influence to change systemic factors holding current racial inequalities in place.
For the first time in a long while I felt a wave of acceptance that race equality is not only preventing culturally diverse communities from enjoying the benefits of sport and physical activity, but that it continues to exclude grassroots talent and qualified leaders from our sector.
CEOs and leaders within the margins of the day thanked the project team, the TRARIIS Advisory Group and the CEOs for convening the sector to listen to why racism can no longer be an ignored topic.
There was nothing new or innovative delivered from the conference itself, as what every speaker, presenter and panellist shared was a well-presented repeat of an age-old story of racism, and its continued negative impact on the sector.
However, every single person clearly stated the need for immediate action, which offered a different and more positive ending to the story.
It’s a simple request for leaders to be inclusive, to follow the data and insight to diversify the workforce and give skilled leaders from Black and Brown communities the opportunity to bring their brilliance and vision to a sector, which is crying out for change.
But ultimately, we each need to stand proud in our anti-racist journey and determine for ourselves what our own legacy to change will be.
