Freshly-released ‘Belonging Playbook’ helps sports groups create ‘an inclusive and accessible place for everybody’

By William Bailey

The Ottawa Sport Council officially released The Belonging Playbook last week, perhaps the most anticipated project in its 10+ years of operation.

The free resource hub at OttawaBelongingPlaybook.ca offers guidance on how community sports organizations can promote diversity, foster inclusion and remove barriers to participation in order to make their programs more welcoming for all.

“Sports should be an inclusive and accessible place for everybody in our community and there’s a lot more that can be done to make it more accessible and inclusive,” underlines Ottawa Sport Council executive director Marci Morris. “Often the grassroots level is the first touch point of sports, especially for a new Canadian or someone who’s joining a community.

“It’s the first thing that they see, and oftentimes, sport is a way that they integrate into a community. They might not speak the language, but they’ll speak the language of sport, and it gives them that opportunity to get to know people in their community.”

Among the resources available in The Belonging Playbook are an inclusive language guide and registration process, a cultural calendar and ideas on how to build community partnerships.

Led by the Sport Council alongside INclusion INcorporated, the project began with a virtual panel discussion back in fall 2021, followed by a very well-attended 2022 Ottawa Sport Summit, titled “Creating Diverse and Inclusive Sport Environments.”

The local sport community has provided input from start to finish, Morris notes.

“It’s been a two-and-a-half-year process,” she indicates. “I’d say we were probably late to the table because it would have been nice if this was out about five years ago, but we definitely recognized the need, that our members needed support in this initiative and wanted to provide them ways that could make their organizations much more inclusive and diverse.”

Since launching The Belonging Playbook, “feedback has been extraordinarily positive,” signals Morris, whose group is now planning to run sessions “to tell our community sports organizations how they can put [the Playbook] into practice. We want to make sure that people can bring it to life within their own community.”

The Playbook was funded by Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities and received further support from the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association. It will be updated on an ongoing basis, and it can also serve as a valuable resource outside of sport, Morris adds.

“This resource is available to everybody and there’s absolutely no charge for it,” she highlights. “Although it revolves around sport, things like inclusive language or the cultural calendar, those things can apply to any sector, it’s not like it’s just a manual on coaching sport A, B or C.

“These things can be taken and broaden beyond just the sports sector, which I think will provide support in our community around many other things as well.”

Read more about local sport inclusion initiatives in the Ottawa Sports Pages’ Inclusion in Sport Series at: OttawaSportsPages.ca/Ottawa-Sports-Pages-Inclusion-In-Sport-Series/.