Inclusion is a journey, not a destination, says Emma Gibbons, chief executive officer at Volleyball BC. Gibbons has been spearheading Volleyball BC’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, which has led to a successful bridging of local volleyball communities representing 25 different countries over the past two years.

“What we heard from the youth when we surveyed them was that their confidence in their ability to try something [including volleyball], and then keep going with it massively increased after the program,” says Gibbons of their initiatives’ impacts.

Volleyball BC is the premier sports organization that arranges professional volleyball events across the province.

Photo by Gary Kripps

Community connections

According to Gibbons, volleyball doesn’t have the barrier of buying expensive equipment which makes it easier to play for newcomers.

“We have 72 registered clubs across the province,” she says. “It’s easy to put up a net, or even a string, and play a ball across it.”

Building a strategic plan to expand the sport, Gibbons started to steer the governing body towards DEI initiatives as she saw a growing community of immigrants coming to British Columbia.

With the help of a colleague who spearheaded the initiatives by conducting data research into the origins of newcomers, Gibbons notes that they were able to identify specific communities and partner agencies. These partner agencies were gateways for Gibbons’ organization to connect with the new communities.

“[The partner agencies] had connections with the newcomer youth, and they knew what the needs of the community were,” she adds. “They were able to communicate with the families and explain, in some cases, some families being more open to physical activity than others, and the cultural sensitivities that we had to address in each situation.”

Over the past two and a half years, Volleyball BC has run a dozen programs partnering with five different community agencies in locations such as South Vancouver, Surrey, South Okanagan, Richmond, Victoria and Abbotsford.

Striking down challenges

Gibbons recalls that there were financial restraints in the programs, including those involving logistics like transportation. She notes a particular case where beach volleyball players required transportation from South Vancouver to the Spanish Banks – a financial gap that was filled by Volleyball BC’s governing body and their partner agency, the South Vancouver Neighbourhood House.

“In some programs, we’ve helped provide food,” she adds. “During the programs at Surrey, we provided a t-shirt, trainers and even money because they didn’t have access or their own supplies to be able to do it.”

Emma Gibbons. | Photo courtesy of Emma Gibbons

For Gibbons, implementing DEI initiatives requires a keen awareness of cultural differences and adapting the conditions of play accordingly. An example is one of Volleyball BC’s first programs with the Surrey Schools Welcome Centre, which featured mostly Afghan girls.

“We had to put up paper to cover the windows at the gym and make sure that no male could see inside and be very mindful about a lot of different restrictions about their clothing and what they are able to do,” Gibbons explains.

Following the success of the program, the organization is headed towards launching its third program at this Surrey welcome centre. Another DEI concern is the availability of coaches belonging to various ethnic communities. Gibbons notes that this challenge is also a gendered one, as some communities prefer having their female participants taught by a women-identifying coach.

“At the start, recruiting coaches was probably the most challenging piece, but we had great success after reaching out to the adult recreational players,” she says.

The recreational players were trained to become coaches, even if they lacked experience, as the merit of their selection was to know the language that the specific community speaks.

Gibbons believes that DEI’s end goal is not related to completing an objective and abandoning it once the program concludes.

“I don’t think you can say, ‘okay, I’ve done that, Check!’ and then it’s off,” she reflects. “You’re constantly learning, changing and adapting.”

For more information, see www.volleyballbc.org