Netball Victoria is constantly working to ensure that we create an inclusive and safe environment. This week we celebrate Trans Awareness Week which aims to increase the visibility of transgender people and highlight the obstacles people from within the community face. This also subsequently links in with our current review and work on our Pride in Sport Index.
The Pride in Sport Index is the first and only benchmarking instrument specifically designed to assess the inclusion to speak with diverse sexualities and gender within Australian sporting organisations and codes more broadly.
By completing the index, it provides Netball Victoria with the opportunity to assess our own practices and improve on programs, initiatives and opportunities for the LGBT+ community. This annual internal and external assessment is paramount to our continual growth and capacity to build a strong community environment that fosters both personal and player development.
As part of the index, we continue to develop resources to assist our community while also undergoing training of our own to guarantee a progressive, safe and cohesive environment for all. The training in the LGBT + sphere also extends to clubs and associations to provide them with the necessary tools to facilitate an inclusive environment.
However, the Pride in Sport Index is just one of the many aspects that Netball Victoria are working on in the LGBT+ space. Recently staff at Netball Victoria included pronouns in their email signatures.
This was an important step for those who identify as trans or gender diverse, as their gender identity is very important to them. This change provides people with the correct terminology to ensure that discomfort isn’t created through the misuse of pronouns.
Netball Victoria is constantly striving towards establishing an inclusive environment for the Transgender community which has been further compounded by our work alongside Proud2Play who aim to provide education and awareness around the LGBT + community in sport. Netball Victoria work closely with Proud2Play and other organisations on the Rainbow Sport Alliance. The organisations work collaboratively by sharing resources, ideas, work through case studies and joint training.
As an organisation we pride ourselves on establishing strong connections with our netball community by developing a welcoming environment and making our vision come to fruition.
