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Description
This project addresses the problem of discrimination against women in sport. Women’s sport is ignored and underfunded, and sportswomen often encounter sexism and violence. As a result, women do sport less often and are not involved in decision-making and management. Although one quarter of people who exercise in sports clubs are women, only 16% of coaches and 10% of management boards are women. It is primarily men who make decisions about development of disciplines, allocation of funds, local strategies for developing physical culture, and other regulations.Under the Project, the Project Promoter will hold five conferences in various cities, at which women given training beforehand will act as experts and conduct workshops on managing a sports club, formulating local policy, building the image of clubs, sources of funding, and the ways in which it is possible to develop professionally in sport. The Project Promoter will also produce the Model Support Package, which will give twenty women active in sport coaching to advance their careers, and in which they will attend self-defence and assertiveness workshops. A collection of good practices will also be produced for the functioning of Sports Councils, to be used for advocacy activities. In addition, assistance will be provided for five women’s sport initiatives, to apply for grants under the Community Activity Incubator.Due to the project, women will become stronger as sports leaders and experts, and learn new competences in sports club management and having a say in policy; they will also learn to recognize and react to discrimination and sexism in sport. Awareness and recognition of women active in physical culture will improve, as will public awareness of inequality of women in sport.The project partner is Klub Sportowy Kontra, which has been active in the women’s sport community for many years, and promotes and reaches people interested in taking part in the project.
Summary of project results
The project responds to the problem of discrimination against women in sport. Women''s sport is ignored and underfunded, and female athletes often experience sexism and violence. As a result, women are less likely to participate in sport and are not involved in decision-making and management. Although ¼ of sports club coaches are women, they make up only 16% of the coaching staff and only 10% of the board of directors. It is primarily men who decide on the development of disciplines, the allocation of resources, local strategies for the development of physical culture and other regulations.
The project included a range of activities - education, networking, information, motivation and advocacy aimed at women and men active in different areas of sport across the country. As part of the project, the Project Promoter organised 5 training conferences entitled "I play, I coach, I manage, I referee" for 200 people active in sport. Two conferences were held in Łódź, the others in Gdańsk, Konin and Łęczna. Workshops and meetings were conducted by 29 women experts and covered such topics as refereeing work, coaching work, sports club management, cooperation with local government, shaping local sports policy, sports club finances, raising funds for club activities, building the club''s image and cooperation with the media, counteracting discrimination in sports organisations‘ strategic documents and players’ contracts, voluntary and community work, shaping local sports policy. As part of the mentoring and coaching programme, the so-called Model Empowerment Package, 21 female leaders received individual support and some of them took part in WenDo self-defence and assertiveness workshops. Among other things, the programme resulted in the creation of 4 new sports organisations. The first database of female experts in sport in Poland was also created, which currently includes profiles of 46 female experts from all over Poland, from various areas and disciplines of sport (coaches, managers, physiotherapists, sport psychologists). A collection of good practices on the functioning of spot councils in Poland and abroad was developed.
Thanks to the project, women have been strengthened as sports leaders and experts, improved their competences in managing sports clubs and influencing policies, and gained knowledge on how to recognise and respond to discrimination and sexism in sport. The visibility and recognition of women active in physical culture has increased, as well as the awareness of sports communities about the unequal treatment of women in sport. The collection of good practices developed has great potential and can be used in the future to support sustainable sport policies at grassroots levels.