Inclusion Officers Added to Sports Federation Executive Committee

The Oxford Sports Federation has introduced 2 new Inclusion Officer positions onto the Sports Federation Executive Committee for 2020/21. The Inclusion Officers will look to improve the diversity of our sports programmes with a particular focus on BAME, LGBTQ and students with a  disability. We are very glad to announce the two Inclusion Officers for 2020/21 will be Emily Manock (Jesus College) and Polly Maton (LMH). 

Polly writes, “I am passionate about inclusion and would love to help make Oxford Sport become a more welcoming environment, particularly for para-athletes. Within [the Athletics club] I have already been part of a group which has successfully pushed for para blues standards, but I think more still needs to be done. Blues standards and varsities need to include para-athletes. There is also the issue of the Blues Gym, which is not accessible. I would love to help work on these issues as well as other elements of inclusion with Oxford University Sport.” 

Emily is a swimmer and writes “my experience as a para-swimmer has given me an insight into the world of disability sport”. Much like Polly, Emily has first-hand experience with assisting clubs to become more inclusive, mainly for athletes with disabilities, experience that will be valuable to tackle access and inclusion more broadly, “More generally, training on specific inclusivity issues within sports would help to make sportspeople from all marginalised backgrounds feel welcome and safe to report any issues to their respective Welfare Officer, for which this training would be mandatory. This programme would work by training trainers first (likely Sports Federation Executive Committee members or staff) to provide this training to Welfare Officers on the inclusion of BAME, LGBTQ, disabled, and working-class athletes.”

We are extremely excited to take this step forward for a more inclusive community, though we appreciate there is still more that can be done. We encourage clubs and individuals to get in touch with either Polly, Emily or Sports Federation staff to ensure we make sport at Oxford a welcoming and thriving community for all, no matter your background.