TY - GEN
T1 - Investigating women's sports in Western Sydney: how can organizations, facilities and policies facilitate inclusion and increase participation
AU - Maxwell, Hazel
AU - Balram, Rohini
AU - Knijnik, Jorge
AU - O'Shea, Michelle
AU - Richards, Jess
AU - Peel, Nicole
AU - Khan, Aila
AU - Brooks, Cristy
AU - Grainger, Andrew
AU - Mariyani-Squire, Edward
AU - Cheng, Jennifer
AU - Oester, Chelsea
AU - Rashid, Kazi
AU - Marshall, Dylan
PY - 2024
Y1 - 2024
N2 - Despite recent wins, women and girls continue to be underrepresented in sport, recreation, and physical activity, both on and off the field (Sherry & Rowe, 2020). Indigenous, culturally and linguistically diverse, LGBTIQ+, and girls and women with a disability confront further disadvantages in terms of both access to and discrimination in sport and physical activity (Maxwell & Stronach, 2020). With this in mind, this paper presents the preliminary results of a collaborative project to map and better understand sporting opportunities for women and girls in Western Sydney. Our specific focus is Western Sydney’s Blacktown, the largest local government area (LGA) in NSW, home to an estimated 403,000 residents with a projected population of 612,000 by 2041. In the project, an interdisciplinary team from Western Sydney University worked with the Blacktown City Council to first ‘map’ current sporting ‘assets,’ including spaces, facilities, and organisational knowledge and capacity. The project considers the quantity, range, and accessibility of sporting spaces in Blacktown as well as the history and symbolic practices that shape access to and participation in these spaces. To better understand how these spaces are understood, experienced, and governed we undertook interviews with key stakeholders in the region and then conducted focus groups with members of the Blacktown community. Using thematic analysis, discuss the intersectional disadvantages face by women and girls within the community and consider how key stakeholders might better meet the diverse needs of both current and future participants. Our hope is to provide important insights into current experiences of, and future trends related to, the spatial and facility use and needs of Blacktown to help guide the development of council strategies moving forward. Our hope is that the project is of more general interest for scholars and practitioners seeking to provide safer, more inclusive, and more equitable spaces for women and girls to be able to participate in sport and physical activity.
AB - Despite recent wins, women and girls continue to be underrepresented in sport, recreation, and physical activity, both on and off the field (Sherry & Rowe, 2020). Indigenous, culturally and linguistically diverse, LGBTIQ+, and girls and women with a disability confront further disadvantages in terms of both access to and discrimination in sport and physical activity (Maxwell & Stronach, 2020). With this in mind, this paper presents the preliminary results of a collaborative project to map and better understand sporting opportunities for women and girls in Western Sydney. Our specific focus is Western Sydney’s Blacktown, the largest local government area (LGA) in NSW, home to an estimated 403,000 residents with a projected population of 612,000 by 2041. In the project, an interdisciplinary team from Western Sydney University worked with the Blacktown City Council to first ‘map’ current sporting ‘assets,’ including spaces, facilities, and organisational knowledge and capacity. The project considers the quantity, range, and accessibility of sporting spaces in Blacktown as well as the history and symbolic practices that shape access to and participation in these spaces. To better understand how these spaces are understood, experienced, and governed we undertook interviews with key stakeholders in the region and then conducted focus groups with members of the Blacktown community. Using thematic analysis, discuss the intersectional disadvantages face by women and girls within the community and consider how key stakeholders might better meet the diverse needs of both current and future participants. Our hope is to provide important insights into current experiences of, and future trends related to, the spatial and facility use and needs of Blacktown to help guide the development of council strategies moving forward. Our hope is that the project is of more general interest for scholars and practitioners seeking to provide safer, more inclusive, and more equitable spaces for women and girls to be able to participate in sport and physical activity.
KW - Women
KW - Sport
KW - equity
KW - inclusion
KW - recreation
KW - Leisure
KW - facilities
UR - http://10.26183/g23j-yv69
M3 - Conference Paper
BT - 2024 International Women in Sport Symposium: Books of Abstracts
PB - Western Sydney University
CY - Penrith, N.S.W.
T2 - International Women in Sport Symposium
Y2 - 8 August 2024 through 9 August 2024
ER -