3 Developing anti-racism among young players
As mentioned previously, a coach can be one of the most important adult role models in a young person's life – and their responsibilities to the young players they coach can go well beyond simply developing sport-specific skills and techniques. One of the core pillars of the model of culturally relevant pedagogy that was mentioned in Session 1 is the importance of developing an anti-racist consciousness within the classroom, so that young people gain a stronger understanding of the world around them, how it is organised and how they might ‘fit’ into it.
As an ARC influencer, the coach can play an important role in supporting their young sports people to develop a critical understanding of societies and how ideas of ‘race’, ethnicity, religious and cultural difference can impact people’s lives. They can also help to empower young people to actively contribute to an anti-racist sporting environment and be sure to play their part in creating a welcoming and inclusive space for people of all ethnic backgrounds to feel they can be their true, authentic selves and not feel under pressure to ‘conform’ to certain cultural norms and expectations. As noted right at the start of the course, sport is often a place where young people meet, interact and become friends with others they might otherwise rarely come into contact with. The coach can help to develop cultural competence among their young players too, by seeking to value and celebrate cultural differences between players.
Another way to build confidence and feelings of safety for all players is a consistent and clear approach to incidents of racial abuse and discrimination, ensuring that all incidents – small or significant – are recognised and not ignored or downplayed. It is important that players are also encouraged and empowered to share any incidents they experience or witness with their coach.
Watch the video below where coach Asad reflects on an incident of racist abuse and how he initially handled the situation.
Transcript
ASAD QURESHI: I’d a player who said he was racially abused on a pitch. Now, my reaction to that was, concentrate on the game. Don’t let it put you off, and go score some goals. Because that’s maybe how I would have reacted to it. But it didn’t work for that young person. He was really angry, really annoyed, and he essentially lost his head-- lost concentration.
So I realised the advice I’ve given him was totally wrong. It’s the advice I’d give to myself, but it wasn’t suitable for him. So I realised that, and it took-- I had a bit of a moment, a bit of time where, I’ve got this wrong. What do I do? And then I was able to clear my thoughts, and then able to speak to the player and apologise to him. But I actually did it in front of the full group.
And I think what it did was it let everybody know this is how we deal with things as a team, and this is what our coach is about, and this is what he will try to do. And in that particular instance, I had to explain to the player, these are the processes we go through from a formal basis. So it almost becomes an education piece for the player and the team.
So to go through it all was actually a real positive, and I was able to spin it. I think the hardest bit is that time in between when you’re not sure what to do, and you’ve got it wrong but you’re not sure how to deal with it. I think it’s just about being brave, and then accepting what you’ve done wrong, and then putting something in place.
And I think, from that particular moment, I got a lot of respect from the players and teams, because I said I was wrong, and this is what we do in the future if this happened. And then everybody knew from then they were in safe hands.
The coach plays a crucial role here in educating the players about all forms of discrimination, such as racism, and can use cultural touch points and references, such as music, where possible, to help educate the players around racism and anti-racism. The next activity explores this further with another scenario to consider.
Activity 2 Encouraging anti-racism among young players
Scenario: players playing music containing racist and misogynistic language
Imagine you are a coach of an under 16s rugby team, getting ready to deliver your team talk to the players just before a match. You have encouraged the boys to listen to music before the games and each week someone new chooses a playlist as a way to share their music tastes. This week, one player chooses some songs with lyrics that repeatedly use the ‘n-word’. You look around and see some players joining in and singing the lyrics while others stay quiet and look uncomfortable. It also makes you feel very uneasy.
What you would do in this situation? But, before outlining some responses, first consider why this music might be an issue in the changing rooms. Give yourself a couple of minutes to articulate what the issue(s) might be here.
Having now considered the ways a coach could influence other coaches and colleagues while also helping to develop an anti-racist consciousness among their young players, the sentence needs finishing