Hi all, this week I’m delving into inclusion in orienteering. Everyone deserves to enjoy the benefits of orienteering, regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, socio-economic status or ability. Currently, we only have to look at the diversity of EUOC to question whether what we’re doing welcomes everyone. As individuals in EUOC, we would never purposefully discriminate against any person – it’s not who we are. However, I think it’s important to question what we can do to create a more welcoming environment. We need to acknowledge that participating in orienteering is not as simple as ‘lacing up your shoes and getting running’; there are multiple barriers for many at work here – some which many of us will not have ever thought to be barriers because of our privileges. So although we think orienteering is ‘open for all’, in reality it is far from it.
I would love EUOC to start thinking about how we can further improve our club from an inclusion perspective. This post is not about providing a magic answer, but instead its aim is to initiate the discussion surrounding diversity and inclusion, not just within EUOC, but within national clubs, and within the sport of orienteering as a whole.
Representation
Little will change if we continue to think that we are ‘doing fine’ as a sport or as a club. ‘You can’t be what you can’t see’ rings very true for orienteering. If someone can’t see themself in the sport, on that sport’s website, or on their governing body board, they’re more likely to feel intimidated, put off and more likely to feel as though they’re not accepted in that environment. As a result they’re unlikely to participate. So although some of you may be thinking ‘there’s no issue here’ and may be questioning why I am making a deal out of this, our representation in the club and sport says you should think otherwise.
The language we use
One thing I really did want to go into a little bit is about the language we use as EUOC members. Unfortunately for some, months or years of thinking they’re in a socially inclusive environment can be ruined by a single comment or a moment of ill-chosen humour. I know it can be really hard to speak out when these comments cross the line, especially when the individual that said it may not have ‘meant it in that way’ or is your friend/ flatmate etc. The easiest way to prevent a damaging situation is to be resolute in your stance on discrimination and to lead by example. I propose that any comment or event which is offensive or inappropriate must be handled strongly in EUOC. We must emphasise that any discriminatory behaviour, jokes, or comments are not tolerated in EUOC. I also encourage anyone who is ever at the receiving end of a harmful joke or has been offended by the language of another member to report it to the committee.
Questions and ideas for everyone to think about
- How can we welcome individuals into EUOC from BAME backgrounds?
- How can we encourage diversity in EUOC while avoiding tokenism?
- How can we make orienteering more accessible for individuals from low-income backgrounds? (Discounted membership, kit and weekends away? Further free equipment to borrow?)
- How can we understand and then break down the barriers standing in the way of people who are traditionally not involved in orienteering?
- How can we ensure we use the correct pronouns for individuals?
- How can we be stronger non-binary allies as EUOC members? (Ending all emails with our pronouns, adding our pronouns to bios is a good start)
- How can we make LGBTQ+ individuals feel more welcome within EUOC?
- How can we ensure we stand up to inappropriate language within EUOC? How can members be assured that EUOC provides an environment in which their rights, dignity and individual worth are respected, and in particular that they are able to enjoy orienteering without the threat of intimidation, victimisation, or abuse?
- How can we make the events EUOC organise (eg Big Weekend) more inclusive?
- Specifically, how can we make non-binary people feel like they can race if we only have a men’s category and a women’s category in orienteering? Can we advocate for a third non-binary category in British events as well as our own?
- How can we support people with disabilities at the events EUOC organises? (Trail-O at Big Weekend could be very achievable)
- How can we ensure that our publicity uses non-gendered language?
- How can we ensure our committee is fair in representation?
- How can we eradicate gender inequality with the orienteering and running races we organise? How can we ensure race winning times will be equal and the races are treated with equal importance?
- How can we ensure our coaches are both knowledgeable and supportive about and to all their female athletes, (eg. how hormones affect training, racing and daily life, how this can translate into training plans etc)
- How can EUOC as a club support/put pressure on the Scottish Orienteering Association and the British Orienteering Federation to make long distance competitions (such as the JK) more gender equal? I wrote a formal email to Peter Hart (Chief Executive of BOF) expressing my views surrounding this but I received a very short, fairly negative response. Anyway, I encourage anyone who has strong feelings about gender equality in orienteering in the U.K to email him too. Email address here: [email protected]
In summary, I think it is about time to redefine who orienteering caters for. There is a lot of room for people of different races, ethnicities, religions, socio-economic backgrounds, sexual orientations, genders, and abilities to be represented within our club, but for positive changes to happen we need assertive action. And I think this is the first step. I hope you agreed with this post and its aims. Please feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below or message me anytime on this topic. Always open for a general life chat too if you’re needing a friend 