Rethinking Diversity in Sports Storytelling

July and August were glorious months for a sports lover and early-morning riser like myself. Nearly full two months of live sporting events – the Tour de France, Olympics, Tour de France Femmes, and Paralympics – greeted me each day with my morning coffee.?

And after taking some time to digest it all, the past two months?inspired me to think about ways to create more diversity and inclusivity in our sports coverage, content, and marketing. Because the ways in which we talk about athletes, the stories we choose to tell, the people we decide to include in our communications efforts, have an impact every single day, far beyond the news of the day.?

Think about what you foreground. I watched more of the Paralympics this year than I ever have in my life. Part of that was the quantity and availability of coverage (thank you NBC and Peacock) which made it easier for me to tune in.?

But one of the things which kept me tuned in was the quality of the coverage – particularly from the commentators.?

Having former Paralympic athletes as commentators provided the context I needed as a viewer to understand the nuances of the sport and classification systems. It helped set the stage for how to talk about adapted sports and the athletes. We were able to hear about an athlete’s backstory, including the nature of their disability, as part of their story, not their entire story.?

This matters.??

What is it that you choose to highlight? Their disability is only part of a Paralympian’s story. It’s an important part for sure, but so too is the actual competition.?

It reminded me of the “early days” of women’s sports coverage, which was often framed through the lens of “Oh my gosh, look! Girls play sports!” Coverage then highlighted ways they still were feminine and their relationship to sport through a man in their life (usually a dad or a brother).?

Adapted sports can fall into a similar trap, one that foregrounds the inspirational story of an athlete overcoming a disability.??

That’s not the only newsworthy thing about their story.?Pay attention to how you are framing your storytelling.?

Think about who you include. Whose story are you choosing to tell? There’s a reason the adage, “if you see it, you can be it,” remains so powerful. We look to the world around us to see where and how we fit in. If you don’t see yourself reflected – in marketing materials and media coverage – it can be difficult to see how you belong.???

To be honest, it’s not something I was expecting Erica Edwards-O'Neal, Esq. to talk about during a recent interview for The Martin Group's She's Got Next project. But the Senior Vice President for Culture, Diversity, Equity, & Social Responsibility at the nonprofit New York Road Runners (NYRR) explicitly talked about representation as ways to address inclusion.?

Edwards O’Neal explained: “Do people feel like they’re welcome to show up in a space? When talking about representation, and how and what stories are told, what communities are represented? Do people see themselves in the imagery, from our social media to marketing campaigns. Do we see lots of different bodies? Do all those folks feel welcome?”?

It goes deeper than just making sure your photos include a diverse array of races, genders, abilities, etc. It’s the stories you choose to tell and how you choose to tell them.?

Ask for input. And make it meaningful. Have conversations that help you learn.? Partnerships are formed when you work with a group or organization to learn more, understand more, to grow. You’re not asking them to do the work for you. You’re asking what work you can do for them.?

One of my favorite interviews for She’s Got Next was with Verna Volker, founder of Native Women Running. She recounted working with a hydration pack company that’s owned by two white men who wanted to be more inclusive.?

“We were in a meeting, and they said to me, ‘Verna we stand in your shadows.’ That stood out to me and meant a lot to me,” Volker said. “They were willing to follow me and let me be the decision-maker and give them direction.???

“Listen to what really matters to us. Don’t just throw some free products our way. I want you to know more about us and why we run. Give us an opportunity to be on boards and be ambassadors.? Start by inviting us to the table and then give us an opportunity to lead in those spaces.”?

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