Gender Identity and School Sport...Time to start the conversation.

As a white, cisgendered heterosexual, my place in the binary world of sport has never been in question. I am not male, but female sport in my lifetime has gone from strength to strength and continues to grow and develop. Girls now proudly compete in previously male domains with fierce talent and determination. Cricket, Rugby, Football and AFL boast established female leagues throughout the world, with increasingly levels of professionalism.

As an Athletic Director however, I feel that we are ill-prepared and not yet engaging in the right conversations to ready us to cater for the wave of Gen Z and Gen Alpha students who view gender as a non-binary construct. Everything about sport right now is based around binary options...

You change into your gendered sports kit in your gendered changing room before potentially heading off to your gendered PE class. In some cases the curriculum varies for Boys and Girls with some activities offered only to the Boys and others only to the Girls. We hold trials for gendered competitive sports teams and compete in gendered sports leagues. Some sports by design have different formats and even equipment for males and female athletes (Eg: WAG and MAG Gymnastics).

Regardless of your personal beliefs, most us of have at the core of our school mission and vision the concepts of equality and inclusion and thus we cannot bury our head in the sand. Sooner, rather than later, I predict we will be faced with students enrolling who identify as non-binary but aspire to being involved in school based athletics. Like all students in our communities he/she/they deserve to be afforded that option in a safe and supportive environment.

So where to start...

1. Engage in conversations with PE Teachers, pastoral leaders, school nurses, school counsellors and coaches about gender and sports. Provide professional learning opportunities around important topics such as the use of appropriate pronouns.
2. Formulate policy that puts the student at the centre of the decision-making. Everyone is individual and in most cases you will be best placed to sit with the student and their parents or carers and LISTEN.
3. Consider options for gender non-binary and transgender students as you develop new facilities, uniforms, signage and enrolment forms, small tweaks can make a huge difference to the welcome you afford a new student, eager to fit in. Whilst a staff or disability toilet is a stop-gap, it is not an appropriate long-term solution.
4. Consider how you will protect the privacy of student-athletes both from a general and medical perspective.
5. Model brave and honest dialogue around some of the more challenging aspects of gender and sports. For example, how will you cater for transgender students (in particular trans females MTF) whilst also protecting the integrity of women's sport?
6. Start to think about the way you might handle a gender non-binary student who is selected for a sports trip which might require a home stay or hotel stay as a member of a team, whilst maintaining all other safeguarding needs.
7. Read and educate yourself around this topic. There is some great research emerging and some great sample policies such as this one: https://www.athleteally.org/model-policy-transgender-inclusion/

"It is my job to help all my students belong... This means part of my job is to educate the wider community about the needs of a child who might be perceived as "different" to help them become embraced by the community." Gayle Hernandez