By Nick Lenehan, Equity, Diversity Inclusion Lead.
December is a perfect time to look back at what has been accomplished, while also looking forward at what still needs to be done. It has been a year of growth for Sport Nova Scotia in the space of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Accessibility (EDIA), and has brought with it some major learnings around how this work needs to be continuously moved forward. Looking back is important to understand some of the progress made, and helps us set some benchmarks for where we need to go in 2024.
Winter 2023 saw the launch of the Parasport Equipment Loan Program and a continuation of the BIPOC Closed Space Engagement Sessions. The Parasport Equipment Loan Program, in particular, has been a clear story of how basic access and availability of the appropriate equipment can drastically shift someone’s ability to meaningfully participate in sport. Since its launch in January, the program has seen Boccia, Wheelchair Basketball, Wheelchair Tennis, Wheelchair Curling, Wheelchair Pickleball, Goalball or Para Hockey come to almost 20 different communities across the six sport regions of Nova Scotia. This program has given communities the ability to test out Para and Adaptive Sporting Opportunities before applying for EDIA Funding to support the purchase of permanent equipment. This has helped turn interest into excitement and excitement into more sustainable programming.
As we moved forward in the year, Spring 2023 saw the beginning of a big training and education push from Sport Nova Scotia. In April, we launched the EDI in Sport Conference Series, which has seen coaches, officials, athletes, administrators, board members, staff and students all attend. With stops in Halifax, New Glasgow, West Pubnico, Wolfville and Truro, there has been good uptake and great conversations, along with a planned stop in Sydney in Winter 2024. The main piece of the series has been the All Youth Matter Inclusion Training, which Sport Nova Scotia has also offered to recreation staff in the Antigonish/Guysborough area and to administrators, board members and coaches of Swim Nova Scotia. The training has given more than 200 Nova Scotians the tools to reflect on themselves and the organizations they work with on how to create inclusive spaces from a purposeful and structural point of view.
Summer 2023 is when the EDIA strategic planning process kicked into high gear. Key people from Sport Nova Scotia, Canadian Sport Institute Atlantic and the Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage were all brought together to create a strategic plan for the entire sport sector in Nova Scotia. The conversations in the room centred on aligning our organizations and creating opportunities for collaboration and growth. The planning is ongoing, but early 2024 will be when an EDIA in Sport strategic plan will be ready to direct our combined efforts moving forward. Summer 2023 also saw the addition of the EDI Sport Navigator for Halifax, joining the staff currently in Yarmouth and Antigonish to move the needle on inclusive sport experiences at the local and community level.
Fall 2023 hasn’t been a time for slowing down. Sport Nova Scotia participated in Nova Scotia’s 2023 Anti-Racism in Sport and Recreation Week. The campaign is a shared effort to not only highlight resources and education, but also the personal stories of why the work is important and how we can all do our part. Fall is also an opportune time to take stock of what so many others are doing in the EDIA space. If you look around you can see new programs and initiative popping up all over the place, whether it be the various programs Hockey Nova Scotia has continued to develop in response to their Diversity & Inclusion Task Force report, the establishment of a 2SLGBTQI+ program by Volleyball Nova Scotia, Lacrosse Nova Scotia’s programming for new Canadians, or one of the many other programs being developed and supported by the Provincial Sport Organizations. This list doesn’t even begin to count the more than 50 projects supported through EDIA Funding at the community level all across Nova Scotia.
EDIA work is necessary to ensure all youth in Nova Scotia have the opportunity to meaningfully participate in inclusive and safe sport environments. More people and organizations are seeing the value in being purposeful and collaborative. Pausing to reflect on where we’ve come is important, but we need to continue to push ourselves and strive to do better.
