What is Play Proud? 

Play Proud was a year-long programme led by streetfootballworld that engages coaches and staff from a global network to create safer and more inclusive spaces in their programmes and organisations. 

Why Play Proud?

Sport environments are all too often the setting where discrimination against the LGBTQ+ community is magnified while four out of five LGBTQ+ youth athletes choose not to come out to their coaches. According to a study done by The Trevor Project, acceptance from at least one adult can decrease the risk of LGBTQ+ youth attempting suicide by 40%. The research is clear; lack of support for LGBTQ+ youth in sports means they are more susceptible to lower academic performance, exposure to drugs and alcohol, and criminal activity. 

“To promote participation, social inclusion & integration”  

Our Goals — Denis Law Legacy Trust 

At Denis Law Legacy Trust we strive to promote inclusion across all of our programming and the opportunity to join the Play Proud network was one we were hugely passionate about doing. Findlay and Hannah, both full-time members of the Streetsport team, were selected as our members best placed to participate in Play Proud to drive change and influence young people for the better.

Who is involved? 

The core Play Proud Programme team is made up of representatives from streetfootballworld, Impact International, the Inclusion Playbook and Football V Homophobia

The cohort is made up of 23 coaches, programme coordinators/managers, and executive directors representing seven countries, including:

Sport 4 Life UK | Slum Soccer, India | Grassroot Soccer Zimbabwe | Grassroot Soccer South Africa | Street League, UK | Altus Sport, South Africa | Balon Mundial, Italy | Rumah Cemara, Indonesia | YFC Rurka Kalan, India

Programme Activities

The programme was originally intended to include two residencies in Asia and Africa, hosted by organisations participating in the programme. The in-person residencies, facilitated by Impact International and Inclusion Playbook were designed to implement 100+ hours of inclusion and leadership content to the participants. Due to the travel and safety implications of Play Proud, the programme was moved online to be implemented through Zoom ‘huddles’ and a learning management system. 

Phase 1: August - December 2020

Phase 1 focused on the development of leadership and improving knowledge of LGBTQ+ inclusivity and support. The team took part in bi-weekly Zoom ‘huddles’ with the Play Proud cohort as well as online assignments through the learning management system. 

“Phase 1 provided a great foundation for Findlay and I to start implementing change at DLLT in 2021. Developing our knowledge and understanding of the LGBTQ+ experience in sport alongside the opportunity to enhance our leadership attributes have inspired us to aim high with our phase 2 objectives”, Hannah Clews.

Phase 2: January - June 2021

For the first part of the year the organisations in Play Proud worked towards ‘action learning projects’ which looked to address an inclusion challenge within their organisation. The groups met two to five times a month in order to engage community stakeholders, research LGBTQ+ materials for their challenge, and ultimately, produce a concrete inclusivity deliverable.

“Leadership is a special kind of action, rather than a special kind of person”

For this next stage, we were paired with Sport4Life, a youth organisation based in Birmingham with similar goals to ourselves for our ‘action learning project’. Through discussion we discovered four areas we could target to enhance our programming:

1. Development of policy

2. Local network of Inclusive groups

3. Staff volunteer training package

4. Visual support of equal opportunity in sport

“With the support of our Action Learning Project team and the wider Play Proud network we are confident we will be able to achieve the aims we have set out. Play Proud is already having a direct impact on Streetsport and I have been able to have more honest and open discussions with young people around inclusion and equality”, Findlay Harkins.

Phase 3