Explaining our PIECE of mind: The group objectives

When The Ability Group in Sport (TAGS) was formed in March, we wanted to highlight the need for improvements and change the sports media landscape in how it encourages more disabled people into the industry.

We did not want to become just a representative group of disabled people already working in various roles to state the fact that we exist. We wanted to combine our lived experience of disability to educate current leaders on how to make their organisations more inclusive and understanding of situations that can arise for disabled people.

Our outlook of objectives means we want to work in tandem with organisations to ensure the next generation of disabled colleagues have the best and most supportive route to fulfilling their own career choices.

After we wrote down five targets for the group to achieve, Ian Burnip, who is a freelance TV producer and editor, noticed that they spelled out the word PIECE. This gave us the perfect tagline of our belief that all disabled people working or wanting to work in sports production deserve a Piece of the action! The word PIECE outlines the following actions of the group below.

Promote

?We will promote and support the work of disabled people in the sports media industry and champion the work of companies that empower disabled individuals to achieve their full potential and reach senior levels of their sector. The group will act as a network to establish progression in this way by highlighting examples of best practices to create a positive cycle of employment.

Improve accessibility

A majority of arenas and stadiums where most of sport is broadcast and viewed from have press boxes with barriers for certain disabled people such as stairs, narrow doorways and are often without lifts. This is generally because access provisions are not needed by the majority. However, we would support any organisation willing to cater for our minority as we hope with more changes, accessibility of these press areas will become necessary. We understand that not all organisations can afford this change, but we can ask them to make reasonable adjustments to suit an individual’s needs. For example, a pitch side view at lower league clubs if the press box is not suitable. This target also extends to general places of work like offices where pathways can become blocked by obstacles and we would like to see more production trucks fitted with ramps instead of steps.

Educate

We want to emphasise the importance of discussing reasonable adjustments with a disabled person when they are hired so that most roles are possible for anyone to fulfil. A reasonable adjustment action plan should be implemented by all companies to discuss a range of factors such as work hours, location and a commitment to invest in any adaptions or equipment a disabled person may need in their role. We also want to support companies by providing suggestions on different types of funding and alternative methods to complete a task. An ambition of TAGS is to help a member provide the first written match report to a publication using speech dictation software.

Collaborate

?We can only create more opportunities for disabled people in the sports media if we collaborate with the organisations that make them possible. It is our aim to partner with these companies and offer them our advice to improve best practices, existing talent schemes, applications and separately, create a universally recognised placement in different sports media roles for disabled people.

Encourage

?TAGS will offer lots of encouragement in different ways, but this objective outlines the need to encourage employers to engage in conversation about disability, different needs and a willingness to make adjustments. As a group, one resounding observation was that disability in the workplace is not talked about. We found that this could be due to an element of fear in causing offence or not knowing what to say when making an approach to a disabled colleague. We feel it is our responsibility to openly express how to create a productive dialogue with a disabled person at all stages of employment to remove fear and encourage positive conversations.

TAGS is a group for disabled people working or wanting to work in sports media roles. If you want to become a member please sign up here