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April 28, 2023
Financial services company, Allianz Australia, has teamed up with Pride in Sport, a sport and inclusion-focused Australian non-profit working to make sports a safer and more inclusive space for the LGBTQ+ community. As part of the partnership, it has launched a reported first-of-its-kind training program, Coach for All, to support and educate coaches of all levels in LGBTQ+ inclusion and how to create a safe and supportive environment for all players and athletes.
73% of young LGBTQ+ athletes don’t feel safe playing team sport and according to a study by Out on the Fields on youth team sports and in school physical education classes, 1 in 5 gay men in Australia decided not to play team sport with many citing negative experiences in PE class (43%) and fear of discrimination (36%) as reasons for not participating. “Homophobia in sport doesn’t just happen on the field. It often appears instead as casual jokes and banter in locker rooms and training,” states Allianz’s website.
Pride in Sport Project Officer Ben Cork said children often first experience homophobic behavior and language in sports, leading to “a culture of ingrained, if unintentional, exclusion, which often forces young queer kids to hide their diversity or stop playing sport.” Noticing that while the number of rainbow flags in the stands has increased at stadiums, the statistics on LGBTQ+ inclusion haven’t changed enough, Allianz intends to change the culture of inclusion with Coach for All. The program is open to all coaches from elite level to grassroots and is completely free.
In collaboration with Pride in Sport – a leading sports inclusion program designed to assist organizations of all levels with the inclusion of employees, athletes, coaches, volunteers and spectators with diverse sexualities and genders – the program will teach coaches how to take real action and create a supportive environment for all athletes. It provides practical tools and resources for coaches to challenge homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in sport whilst building inclusive teams that celebrate diversity.
The program is backed and includes coach legends, Louise Sauvage OAM, one of Australia’s most successful athletes and Olympic coaches and Trent Robinson, one of the longest-serving coaches in the NRL (National Rugby League).
“Coaches are seen as leaders, someone that our athletes can trust. We want to create an environment where people can be themselves and for everybody to feel equal. And by having those two things, we are setting them up for success to perform at their best without fear,” says Sauvage. “I look forward to not only learning more but helping other coaches all the way from grassroots to the highest levels of sport learn how to make sport more inclusive.”
The training includes a four-part series featuring short video modules, Q&A’s and downloadable PDF sources. The modules feature Sauvage and Robinson who share skills to identify problematic behavior and confront it in potential real-life scenarios.
“I’ve seen players that weren’t comfortable enough to come out with their sexuality until after they finished their career, and I see that as being a reflection on the environment that we create. I do think our sporting environments have improved over the last few years and we are getting better at understanding how people can be themselves within these environments, but there’s still a long way to go,” said Robinson, Sydney Roosters Head Coach.
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