Introduction
I attended a Teams session for Sport England System Partners which focussed on tackling inequalities and below are the notes that ChatGPT typed up for me. I found the session really interesting and thought it might be helpful for anyone working on the Place Expansion projects.
Introduction
The session covered Sport England’s innovation work and its approach to tackling inequality in sport. While some organisations may already be ahead in this work, Sport England acknowledges it is still evolving.
Two new resources are being developed:
- Accessible and Inclusive Engagement Guidance & Toolkit – Ensuring meetings, conferences, and events are inclusive, covering planning, communication, and post-event evaluation.
- Accessible and Inclusive Research Guide – Embedding inclusivity in research and insight generation, ensuring fair and representative research practices.
Panel Discussion: Tackling Inequality in Sport
The panel featured:
- British Equestrian
- Skateboard GB
- Street Games
Each shared their organisation’s experience and challenges in making their sport more inclusive.
Street Games – The Importance of Engagement & Co-Design
- Street Games works in deprived communities with young people from low-income backgrounds.
- Their approach to innovation focuses on co-design—engaging community leaders to create solutions with them, not just delivering pre-packaged initiatives.
- They emphasised that inequality is complex, and no individual fits a single label. Tackling inequality requires a people-centred approach that considers multiple intersecting factors.
British Equestrian - Challenges in Changing Leadership Culture
- Equestrian sports are often seen as elitist, expensive, and inaccessible.
- To address this, British Equestrian conducted external research to identify barriers and understand the experiences of underrepresented groups.
- Their Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) strategy includes:
- Leadership and governance reform, focusing on culture change.
- Collecting board-level diversity data across 20 member organisations.
- Running an 18-month leadership programme to align values across federations.
- It was emphasised that true inclusivity is not just about short-term diversity targets but about creating a sense of belonging and shifting the sport’s deep-seated culture.
- In elite sports, boards prioritise medal-winning performance over grassroots inclusion.
- The challenge is getting leaders to value long-term systemic change as much as short-term competitive success.
- Organisations working in EDI and tackling inequality often face slow progress due to institutional resistance and deeply embedded cultural norms.
Skateboard GB - Skateboarding’s Strengths & New Challenges
- Skateboarding is naturally accessible (requires minimal equipment, thrives in urban areas) and has long engaged marginalised communities.
- Skateboarding has seen a 37% increase in female participation, with competitions moving towards gender parity.
- However, formalising the sport through a National Governing Body (NGB) has introduced new equity challenges:
- Geographic imbalance – Growth is concentrated in the South and Southwest, while participation in historically strong skateboarding regions (North, Midlands) is declining.
- Intersectionality concerns – While gender inclusion has improved, class and race disparities remain.
- Skateboarding is facing sportification challenges, where increased structure and funding are unintentionally limiting access for the most marginalised groups.
- Economic hardship has worsened – More children now attend skateboarding sessions in visibly poor conditions (e.g., worn-out shoes, no proper equipment).
- Inequality isn’t static – In 2007, child hunger and heating poverty weren’t primary concerns; today, they are major factors affecting participation.
- Policy decisions often neglect the most disadvantaged regions, making place-based approaches to equity even more critical.
Final Thoughts & Next Steps
- Inequality is dynamic – Sports organisations must continuously adapt to changing societal and economic conditions.
- Place-based approaches are key – Marginalised communities need targeted investment, not a generic national strategy.
- Leadership buy-in is essential – Without cultural change at the top, meaningful progress is difficult.
- Collaboration is critical – Governing bodies must work with communities,
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