A Fair Game for All? How Community Sports Clubs in Australia Deal With Diversity

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Spaaij, Ramon ORCID: 0000-0002-1260-3111, Farquharson, Karen, Magee, Jonathan, Jeanes, Ruth, Lusher, Dean and Gorman, Sean (2013) A Fair Game for All? How Community Sports Clubs in Australia Deal With Diversity. Journal of Sport and Social Issues. ISSN 0193-7235 (print) 1552-7638 (online)

Abstract

Diversity and equality are key issues confronting sport. This article draws on findings from qualitative research carried out in Australia to critically examine how diversity is understood and valued in community sport. The findings suggest that there is a discrepancy between the policy objectives of government and sport organizations and the way in which diversity is understood and responded to in practice. Diversity management is not being adopted widely among local sports clubs. The idea of a moral imperative to cater to people with diverse backgrounds and abilities is largely absent; rather, the dominant discourse is underpinned by a business rationale which interprets diversity in terms of benefits and costs to the organization. This business-driven approach is often detrimental to the social policy objective of ensuring equitable outcomes in sport. A fundamental reconsideration of the rationale and practice of managing diversity in sport is therefore necessary.

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Item type Article
URI https://vuir.vu.edu.au/id/eprint/24994
DOI 10.1177/0193723513515888
Official URL http://jss.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/12/12/01...
Subjects Historical > FOR Classification > 1106 Human Movement and Sports Science
Historical > FOR Classification > 1608 Sociology
Historical > Faculty/School/Research Centre/Department > Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL)
Current > Division/Research > College of Sports and Exercise Science
Keywords cultural diversity, (dis)ability, diversity management, gender, sport
Citations in Scopus 40 - View on Scopus
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