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Professional fields involved in child and youth services, such as social work and Child and Youth Care practice, often think about young people in the context of social service systems, such as child welfare, youth criminal justice, education, and child and youth mental health. One major social context that is rarely explored within these professional fields is that of recreational and competitive sports. This is the case even though recreational and competitive sports are directly relevant to many young people across Canada and have been shown to contribute significantly to their physical and mental well- being, resilience, academic performance, and pro-social attitudes (Eime et al., 2013; Hoffmann et al., 2022; Khan et al., 2022; Morris et al., 2004). In fact, participation in sports often has life-changing implications for young people and frequently supports successful transitions to early adulthood (Super et al., 2019), particularly for young people who stay involved in sports in post-secondary education contexts or more generally as young adults participating in recreational sports leagues (Gabay, 2013; Howie et al., 2020). This paper is both a personal and professional call to the CYC field to integrate sports into their approach when they engage with Black girls.
Lived Experiences as Knowledge
I was a Black girl who participated in sports and since I was a child growing up in rural Jamaica, I have loved most things sporting. In a country in which sprinting is prioritized and glamorized, I was told I was fast. I felt free to be a child, and I found a deep sense of belonging and satisfaction in sports. This is a feeling that remains, even as an adult. My athletic talents afforded me the opportunity to compete at Canadian university level, where I was successful in playing basketball for four years. I was rewarded with grants and scholarships to fund my university career, I saw parts of Canada I would not otherwise get to see, and I built a network of people who supported me throughout my life. All these factors contributed to a mental toughness that helped in the fight against racism and sexism. The most important attribute about sports for me was that these skills were transferable to my professional career as a social worker and youth worker. I often used sports programming as an outlet for youth who were involved in the criminal justice system and child welfare or created sports programs at lunch for Black girls. I found it an alternative method of engagement that felt organic and real, an environment in which the social services could connect with Black girls.
As an athlete I too experienced discrimination much like other Black girls do in sports and life itself. The stereotypes of Black girls being hard to coach, too fancy, or of having an attitude, I almost always had to deal with. At a systemic level I recall, for example, that I had to force my way to participate in sports at lunch time with the boys because there was no attention given to girls’ sports. Girls’ sports program were often cancelled without explanation. Funds were not available for some of the costs of sports programs, such as the more expensive programs like swimming or hockey. These barriers are consistent with how anti-Blackness operates on the daily lives of Black girls.
Overview of Sports and Black Girls
Although the literature on the benefits of participation in sports is overwhelmingly positive, the sports sector, not unlike most social sectors in Canada, is experienced differently based on identity characteristics and social context. The literature exploring the impact of participation in sports in relation to specific demographic groups is limited, however. In many cases, including that of Black girls, these experiences are such that they impact participation rates negatively, and where Black girls do participate, their experiences are often marred with racism, stereotypes, and nuanced forms of exclusion and invalidation (Bruening et al., 2005; Gabay, 2013). Given the advantages that present themselves from participation in sports, it is important to explore the differences in experience for diverse demographics. To this end, it is meaningful to explore the barriers and challenges experienced by Black girls in sports, while at the same time ensuring that the stories of Black girls find space to be told and, perhaps more importantly, heard.
Within those stories, we find symptoms of challenges and barriers but also clearly articulated frameworks for wellbeing, triumph, and strengths (Bruening et al., 2005; Danford & Donnelly, 2018).
Child and Youth Care, Black Girls, and Sports: Informed by Black Feminisms
An exploration of the experiences of Black girls in sports in Canada could have several useful features. First, such an exploration could be informed by a Black Feminist theoretical framework (Carter-Francique, 2018). Black Feminism is theory that has rarely been used within Child and Youth Care to theorise sports participation, gender, and equity. Black Feminism can help to unpack the intersecting nature of race and gender upon the lived realities of Black girls in sports (Carter-Francique, 2018; Mowatt et al., 2013). This is particularly important in the context of sports given the patriarchal nature of the sector, which has traditionally focused on the male experience and constructed concepts and goals that fundamentally assume a male lived experience and speak to the needs and desires of male bodies (Senne, 2016). At the same time, participation in sports has always featured underrepresentation on the part of racialized groups (Joseph et al., 2022). Racism is explicit in sports such as hockey, and much more nuanced in sports such as tennis, track and field, and swimming (Hextrum, 2020). This dual exclusion, based on gender and race, cannot adequately be understood without a Black Feminist theoretical framework, given that both feminism and critical race theory by themselves often replicate structural and systemic forms of exclusion (Butler, 1988; Crenshaw, 1991). Additional intersectionalities related to ability/disability, sexual orientation and identity, religious identity and associated dress or rituals, and legal status in Canada can be integrated into a Black Feminist perspective (Crenshaw, 1991).
Second, the exploration of Black girl experiences in sports could take account of diversity in Blackness, which is especially important in Canada given the presence of multiple Black communities in virtually all urban areas. It is, for example, important to be attentive to the stories of Muslim Black girls versus those of other Black girls given that multiple layers of additional issues present themselves, ranging from family and community cultures and customs related to girls participating in sports to specific dress codes and rituals that may become relevant and visible (McPherson, 2019). In this context in particular, an exploration of Black girl experiences in sports might also focus on the interactions with audiences, which still consist overwhelmingly of parents and supporters of white participants. There has been significant research and media coverage of some of the negative and harmful microaggressions, racial slurs, stereotypes, and violence that is associated with white audiences of racialized (especially Indigenous and Black) athletes (Hodge et al.,2008; Lee et al., 2018; Wilson, 1997).
Third, the stories of Black girls always contain references to highly nuanced aspects of their experiences of participating in sports. This includes the experience of being labelled “uncoachable” (Dillard, 1977), differing expectations for performance that are based on stereotypes and racist ideas about black athleticism (Hodge et al., 2008), and interactions with sports audiences, referees, and coaches that are different from those of white athletes. The fact that referees and coaches in the Canadian sports sector are overwhelmingly white (Brown et al., 2021), is significant given that these roles are fundamentally surveillance roles overseeing both behaviour and performance.
Fourth, in exploring the experiences of Black girls in sports, at both recreational and competitive levels, such as university varsity teams or provincial teams, one might focus on the degree to which sports infrastructure either reproduces or resists societal norms with respect to gender and race (Gabay, 2019). This might include a careful analysis of training practices for coaches, or it could include a study of club and organizational policies with respect to inclusion and support for diverse groups of players.
There are likely many more aspects of Black girl experiences in sports that are relevant and important. The point is that we have a responsibility to take a closer look at social systems that provide opportunity for growth and development to ensure that such opportunities are governed by strong equity frameworks. For social work and Child and Youth Care practice, thinking about the role of sports in the lives of the young people we work with is critically important and consistent with our existing practices. For example, we always think about the role of education, and the experiences of young people in education systems, because we know the value of education in creating sustainable and long-term opportunities for young people. We think about mental health systems and child welfare because we know that these kinds of services tend to present with significant barriers to access when the service itself is voluntary and growth oriented, and significant overrepresentation of equity-seeking groups when the services are coercive and mandatory (Antwi-Boasiako, et al 2022). Given that we understand the importance of engaging with both the individual experiences of young people and the functioning of these systems, there is really no excuse for not similarly exploring the role of sports and the sports sector in the lives of young people, and to focus on the stories of young people whose experiences always feature a high degree of precarity. This is certainly the case for Black girls, which is why research in Child and Youth Care and social work needs to begin to engage these issues.
Conclusion
It is important to note that Black girls have important stories to tell about their experiences while participating in sports. Aside from the challenges associated with the sector in the context of equity considerations and issues of anti-Black racism, for many Black girls’ sports has been an avenue of performance and self-fulfilment that has opened new ways of constructing identity (Gabay, 2013). In addition, Black girls exist in the context of communities for whom the opportunity to support their girls, as well as benefit from the rewards of their success, is strength-building and a source of enormous pride. The possibilities for Black girls to benefit from participation in sports are endless, and unlike in dominant cultures and narratives, such benefit is not just an individual accomplishment but offers collective value.
Child and youth care and social work both claim to take account of young people in holistic and comprehensive ways that focus on relational engagement. Within that context, we cannot continue to silence or fail to give space to the stories of Black girls and their experiences in sports. For many, this is a core component of their life space, and one that cannot be adequately captured nor supported simply by checking off “enrolment in sports” on a case management checklist. What is needed instead is a comprehensive research program that focuses on Black girl experiences in sports in such a way that it empowers the girls themselves but also exposes the challenges and opportunities embedded in participation in sports and, with that, formulates both practice- and policy-based recommendations for maximizing meaningful access and excellent experiences for Black girls in the world of sports.
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