Football Coaching Equality

You can travel all over the world, not know a single word of the language being spoken around you and still hold a conversation with a complete stranger about football. Such is the power of the ‘beautiful game’, it can overcome language, race, religion and culture, yet it can also cause divisions between families, couples and best friends when teams or countries meet.

Football is the world’s leading sport, played and watched by countless millions, and is an integral part of so many countries’ sporting culture. Football can have a positive and powerful influence on children and young people but just as easily it can influence children negatively.

What does Equality mean?

It is not just about equal numbers and balancing up your boy’s teams with a girl’s team. It is about fairness, justice, including people and respecting them. It is also the upholding of social justice to ensure that all individuals are respected, have equal opportunities and have their rights protected. Equality in football is about making sure that everyone has an equal chance to take part in football if they want to play, and no one is discriminated against for reasons such as gender, race, disability, age, religious or political belief, sexual orientation or social background.

Treating everyone fairly, with respect and ensuring that everyone has the same opportunities to achieve their potential would seem a simple definition. If we accept this as a definition we have you ask ourselves are there some areas in football that can be identified as unequal? Or are there practices at a club that prevent everyone being treated fairly, with respect and with equal opportunities? Football is the ‘people’s game’ but are some people being excluded? If there are any barriers which stand in the way of under-represented groups we should make every effort to have these eliminated. We may have to take some form of positive action in order to reach the most disadvantaged or excluded groups.

Everyone should have the opportunity to play, referee, manage, coach or watch football at any level and being of a different race, religion, gender, culture, ability level, sexual orientation, ethnicity, social background or culture, should not prevent anyone from that opportunity. Recognising equality recognises that people are different and this DIVERSITY should be acknowledged and celebrated. Some Governments have introduced Laws to tackle inequality and discrimination, but what does it mean to our football clubs.

Our society is based on people’s diversity where we value each person and empathise with their individualism, their uniqueness, and for us to treat people equally we have to ensure that we do not deny any one particular group from accessing football. Everyone is unique in the knowledge and skills that they can bring to football.

EQUITY AND FOOTBALL

What does Equity in football mean?

Equity is the being fair to all, ensuring that all individuals are protected by football’s governing body and respected by all. Really it is social justice for all, ensuring that everyone has equal opportunities.

Celebrating football diversity cannot happen without equity in football. The various types of discrimination that existed previously where people of a different race or ethnicity, or different culture, religion, or gender are no longer acceptable. To discriminate because of a persons sexuality, age, disability or socio-economic status or for any other reason is also unacceptable as is the age old excuse that ‘they were the one’s discriminating and didn’t join in at all’. However that person perhaps did not verbally discriminate but by their non action they endorsed the actions of others.

What should our club be doing to ensure Equity?

• Recognising that we are all diverse
• Ensure your club is accessible for all players or visitors
• Challenging your players or parents if there are any inappropriate behaviours, discrimination or poor practices towards players or parents