Equity in sport - fairness, inclusion and opportunity

Wednesday 7 September 2005

sportscotland is absolutely committed to promoting equity and believes the principles of equity should be central to every aspect of development, delivery and decision-making in Scottish sport. That means ensuring diversity in sport is encouraged, supported and celebrated. To support this objective sportscotland today launched its Equity Strategy: Working Towards Diversity and Inclusion in Sport.

The Equity Strategy builds on the Equity Standard: A Framework for Sport, produced by the four home country Sports Councils and UK Sport last year and outlines how the Standard will be implemented in Scotland.

Equity means much more than equality. It’s not just about equal numbers, but is concerned more with fairness, justice, inclusion and respect. Equity in sport is about making sure that everyone has an equal chance to take part in sport if they choose to do so, and no one is discriminated against for reasons such as gender, race, disability, age, religious or political belief, sexual orientation or social background. It’s about making sure that any barriers which stand in the way of under-represented groups are eliminated.

The Equity Standard aims to guide sports and community organisations towards achieving equity, and assists them to develop structures, processes and actions to do so.

We believe that if the Equity Standard is implemented, Scottish sport will benefit significantly. Fairness and social justice can permeate through sport, and everyone who wants to take part in sport will have the opportunity to do so. This will lead to an increase in the numbers of participants, volunteers, coaches, officials, club members and spectators involved in sport and, as such, can only help both to develop and nurture Scottish sport, and ultimately increase success on the world stage.

This Equity Strategy outlines how we will implement the Standard in our own organisation, and summarises how we will encourage and support our key partners in sport – including the Scottish governing bodies (SGBs), local authorities, Institute Network and Sports Partnerships – to incorporate the Standard in their organisations.

The Standard will help develop organisations’ cultures and services - including those of sportscotland itself - to ensure they give due regard to equity. There are four levels of achievement to which sports organisations will aspire. Our ultimate aim is for sportscotland – and as many of our key partners in sport as possible – to achieve the advanced level.

Launching the Strategy Julia Bracewell OBE, Chair of sportscotland said: "sportscotland is determined to make more people more active more often, but certain parts of the wider community have been traditionally under-represented in sport. We know that many people face discrimination and barriers to participation. If we can break down those barriers and ensure everyone enjoys equal rights to take part in sport, we will see an increase in participants, volunteers, coaches, administrators, officials, club members and spectators across sport at all levels.

"Each of us involved in sport has a responsibility to ensure that equity applies to every aspect of Scottish sport as a matter of course. sportscotland is committed to leading the way."

1. A copy of the Equity Strategy Working Towards Diversity and Inclusion in Sport and the Equity Standard: A Framework for Sport is available on the sportscotland website www.sportscotland.org.uk/ethics . Further information on how to implement the Equity Standard is available on the Equity Standard website http://www.vagaassociates.com/eqss/index.htm