Gender Equity in Recreational Sport: Optimizing Facility Use

Highland District Soccer Association (HDSA), owner and manager of the W. M Sobeys Indoor Sports Complex, identified that the Complex could benefit from developing a formal facility allocation policy to establish a transparent and consistent method to allocate facility time to user groups.

Our girls are watching us. Our nieces, cousins, sisters, neighbours, daughters. If we don’t show them what they’re capable of, who will?

Without strong development pathways, young Canadians may not have the opportunity to pursue their dreams. An important first step along any development pathway is a positive introduction to sport through grassroots community programs.

By taking a full sustainability lens to our designs at the beginning of the process, we can support better equity, health, and climate resilience for future communities, making our spaces better for everyone.

NRPA’s Equity Language Guide is a glossary of terms to help park and recreation professionals develop a common language around diversity, equity and inclusion.

This resource is designed to provide tips for coaches, sports clubs and athletes on how to include Muslim Females in the athletic space.

Some experts say the design of many playgrounds is sexist, as much more space is devoted to boys, who tend to play sports more than girls.

Sport has the power to unite and inspire us. For girls, women and gender-diverse people, sport can be transformative, but only when they have equitable opportunities to engage in quality, safe sport.

Cities are supposed to be built for all of us, but they aren’t built by all of us. We spoke to feminists working in urban planning in the city to find out what they think needs to change to make cities better for women.

In Her Words is a novel project that explored the physical activity and recreational sport experiences of mothers with disabilities – for their own health and well-being, and as mentors to their school-aged daughters (9-15 years).

Visiting parks is an integral part of everyday life, reflecting the vital social, health and recreational role parks play in towns and cities. Parks have numerous benefits for health and wellbeing yet concerns about safety can constrain women and girls’ use and experience of them.

It’s an outline about both the problem of the lack of facilities for teenage girls in parks, and also some studies of best practice in how to co-produce solutions.

Are You Afraid of the Dark T.O? is a temporary public outdoor installation for young women and girls that will use unique seating arrangements and LED lighting to improve perceptions of safety at night and encourage after-dark use.

This Standard is a set of principles for managing public park spaces in ways that prioritise women and girls’ safety.

What does a #city look like from Her perspective? How can designs/plans respond to a #woman’s experience?

Whatever your goal, this guide is designed to help you to decide where research can be useful for your organisation, and provide guidance around how to select the best approach.

The single best way to create a park which works for teenage girls is to talk to them. Find out how they use the park, how it makes them feel, and what would make it more attractive for them.

Urban planners have been melding mainstreaming and city design in Vienna for over two decades and they’ve gotten it down to something of a science.

In this blog, Lindsay Knowlton offers strategies and tips, based on research and her own experiences, to help golf clubs and organizations create inclusive, welcoming environments that help women say “yes” to golf.

The active engagement of girls and women as participants and leaders will enhance the Canadian sport and physical activity system for everyone.

This article is an overview of the relationships between boys and girls in public space. Based on an extensive literature review and own research we look at the causes of this gender inequality as well at the possible solutions.

Intersectionality is a concept that can help policy makers and sport programmers understand how different types of discrimination – like racism, homophobia, and ableism – combine to prevent some women and girls from participating in sport.

Effective strategies and interventions are required in order to meet Sport Canada’s goal of equity for girls and women in sport by 2035.

For decades, scholars and advocates of women’s sport have called for a change in how women’s sport is marketed, sponsored, endorsed, promoted, covered, invested in, capitalized upon, and broadcast.

Through positive sport experiences, girls are more likely to reap the benefits of sport participation and grow into confident and motivated leaders.

These whiteboard animation videos on the 13 factors in the National Standard for Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace will be a helpful resource for all workplaces in Ottawa. Let’s keep the conversation going about mental health. Each of the videos has a facilitator’s guide to help get the conversation started.

The psychosocial factors described in Guarding Minds are elements that psychologically and/or socially impact the health, safety and well-being of employees, either positively or negatively.

Researchers Kelloway and Barling have said that virtually every outcome variable in the field of occupational health psychology is empirically related to organizational leadership.

In this paper, I argue that everyday spaces such as change rooms and locker rooms are important spaces in which social understandings of the female body manifest.

Motherhood and a decrease in physical activity participation often go hand in hand. Specifically, early motherhood is a time when women have some of their lowest rates of sport participation.

Keeping Girls in Sport was created to help everyone who coaches girls, even parents, understand how girls develop physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally.

This document outlines the Expert Working Group’s policy and practice recommendations, and is being made available to Canadian sport organizations to help in their work towards making their sport more inclusive.

In comparatively gender equal Norway, most boys and girls participate in sports at about equal rates. This apparent gender equality is investigated further.

Despite decades of research and advocacy, women’s professional sports continue to be considered second class to men’s sports. The goal of this paper is to rethink how we state, present, and solve problems in women’s sport.

For many talented female candidates, the way they see their own leadership does not match what is presented in front of them in corporate cultures.

For lifelong baller Caren Cao, playing in a co-ed basketball league wasn’t much fun. “If it’s a competitive league, men don’t take you seriously,” she says. “If it’s a casual game, they won’t even put in a full effort to guard you.”

Gender Equal Cities, URBACT’s new initiative, seeks to highlight ways in which cities are driving change to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 5: Gender Equality.

Urban redevelopment in India over recent decades has had particular implications for women. Cities such as New Delhi have become sites for experimentation, autonomy and aspiration for women.

The proposal is to reclaim women’s right to the city through the recontextualisation of their public spaces which have been lost or need to be developed in urbanised India.

This short video introduces the Canadian Parks and Recreation Association’s four-part webinar series on Gender Equity in Recreational Sport.

COVID-19 has profoundly impacted society and will for years to come. This report is an opportunity to focus on the impact of COVID-19 for girls in sport.

This workshop will explore non-traditional ways of understanding the community and, specifically, those who do not typically participate in recreation.

This workshop will focus on OUTCOME evaluation in general with specific application to gender equity initiatives and understanding the impact of this work.

This workshop will focus on two basic elements related to gender equity and the design of recreation facilities.

The workshop focused on three specific topics regarding organizational support for girls, women and gender diverse individuals.

Want the inside story on Ontario Soccer’s Gender Equity strategy?

Quality engagement in physical activity can further the integration of newcomer women and girls into their communities and positively impact their overall quality of life.

COMING SOON – A practical tool for organizations to identify strengths and opportunities to promote equity.

The guidelines focus on three key enablers: Facility Planning and Design, Maximising Use (i.e., culture, programing, and Policy to Drive Change.

This document explores the benefits of universal washrooms and change rooms and their provision in community and recreation facilities.

Designed to empower and advance gender equity and equality for women and girls in sport and physical activity worldwide.

This National Policy Framework for Women and Girls in Sport is for the Commonwealth and State/Territory government jurisdictions.

This resource provides sport leaders with information and tips to enhance good practices or dial up efforts to support gender-equitable boards.

Within the Canadian sport sector, these are three organizations that have implemented board gender equity into their governance documents.

Research consistently proves that organizations that embrace gender equity outperform those that do not.

Includes resources and key findings from the research which is funded by Sport England.

This guide will help you get more women and girls in your area active – even if you’re not directly involved in the sport or leisure sector.

“Go Where Women Are” is about engaging women in sport and exercise on their terms and in their space whether physically or emotionally.

This resource provides concrete evidence that makes the case for investing in physical activity initiatives for women 55–70.

The toolkit specifically aims to help clubs increase the involvement of women and girls, Aboriginal people and people from culturally diverse communities.

An evidence-based, step-by-step, comprehensive online toolkit designed to help sport organizations bring their gender equity vision to life.

This self–assessment tool is designed for all sport and physical activity organizations/providers who want to reap the benefits of greater gender equity within their organizations.

As an advocate for sport that is fair, safe and open, the CCES has developed resources for the Canadian sport community to provide information and guidance for the inclusion of trans athletes.

Based on the lived experiences of Canadian athletes and coaches, this resource highlights current issues in Canadian sport, from playground to podium.

With this new e-module from Canadian Women & Sport, you’ll learn how to bring a gender lens to sport and reflect on how your decisions can impact people differently.

This resource was developed to provide Canadian sport leaders further guidance on what an inclusive policy document should contain.