Ready to Confront Your Unconscious Biases?

Ready to Confront Your Unconscious Biases?

Community sports should be welcoming to all, but unconscious bias can create hurdles for participation and enjoyment. These hidden attitudes and stereotypes influence decisions about who gets encouraged to play, how individuals are developed, and even leadership opportunities.

Imagine stepping onto the field, only to be met with a brick wall of bias. That's the reality for many in community sports, where unconscious assumptions about gender, ethnicity, or even body type can sideline talented individuals. This hidden prejudice creates a domino effect: girls get discouraged from traditionally "masculine" sports, gifted athletes from underrepresented groups get overlooked for training, and some teams become unintentionally exclusive clubs. The result? It is a less-than-thrilling experience for everyone. But wait, there's a plot twist! By recognising and tackling these biases, we can transform community sports into a refuge of inclusivity, where everyone gets a fair shot, skills are celebrated, and the only competition is for that post-game high five.

Now, let's get down to the actual playbook.

Diversity Action plans are important but have you thought of some of the deeper-rooted work that may need to happen to consider the effect that ‘unconscious bias’ may have on you, your staff and your partners?

We take a look at the causes and effects that these biases may have and how to counteract some of them. We all have them. How do we understand them and what next… name bias, beauty bias, affinity bias – we will unpick reasons, and consider how we are perceived and how we perceive others to help us in our quest for equity and inclusion in our work.

We will create a safe space for you and your colleagues to look at challenging areas of bias in your workplace and our sports spaces, to create the environment that we want. We will look at everyday examples of unconscious bias, and practice challenges, and develop our understanding of how to achieve the diverse and equitable spaces we strive for.

All of our training is delivered in a safe, non-judgmental environment with practical, interactive examples and discussions. We can build the training for your needs or have an off-the-shelf session. Let us know if you would like further details.

Connect Northamptonshire Unconscious Bias Training Review: "Sport Structures were really reactive to our needs for Unconscious Bias training for community groups that were looking at how to best represent their communities in an evolving Health System in Northamptonshire, tailoring the course to the requirements of the Health and Social Care Act for Socially excluded groups. The level of service that Jo and her team offered was outstanding, including some great preparation time to understand the complexities required for the training. I would recommend Sport Structures for any organisation looking at their EDI practices and unconscious bias (and already have!)." - Claire Neilson, Alliances Manager, Connect Northamptonshire.

•        Encourage an understanding of unconscious prejudices faced by communities with protected characteristics and socially excluded groups.

•        Empower to challenge discrimination, prejudices, and social exclusion in meetings and conversations with colleagues and system partners.

Encourage self-reflection and the development of individual "call for action plans" to address unconscious biases in professional practice.