4 Creating and sustaining an ARC environment

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The final ARC principle to consider relates to creating and then sustaining an environment informed by the core anti-racist values you have learned across the course so far. It is positioned as the final principle in part because it can be seen as only possible to undertake once the other ARC principles have been initiated while also representing the stage of furthest development of embedding anti-racism in youth sport, and also likely to require the most effort from the most people over the longest time period.

Creating and sustaining an ARC environment involves ensuring that anti-racist practice and considerations are embedded in all aspects of the organisation providing the youth sport activities.

Things to consider to help build and then sustain an ARC environment include the following:

• Review and then amend policies, procedures and practices to ensure anti-racist principles of valuing diversity and seeking to eliminate racial discrimination is at the heart of the club.
• Creating and then widely advertising a policy for dealing with incidents of racial abuse and discrimination – both from within the club/staff itself and from external sources (i.e. opposition players or support staff).
• Make anti-racism a core component of the club itself – promote and advertise the club’s position and provide examples of the types of activities that take place to ensure ARC is being embedded at the club.
• Ensure that all club members and stakeholders are aware of the ARC principles and understand the organisation’s commitment to it, and their responsibility to embed it in their own practice and regularly endorse it in their interactions with others.

Having now considered all of the six principles that make up the ARC model of practice you are approaching the end of this course. The next section encourages you to take a moment to reflect on your learning and consider what you can start doing to incorporate the ARC model into your own practice.