Enabling Muslim girls to play sport and be active

Role: Deliverer
Clubs provide sport participation, volunteering and social connection opportunities for girls and their families.

Recommendations:

• Work with parents and girls to provide flexible uniforms and develop inclusive policies, that include wearing the hijab. Including a variety of culturally appropriate uniform options that have official club logos can help create a sense of inclusion and belonging.
• Work with parents to provide inclusive social activities, and foster understanding of cultural considerations, such as club social activities where alcohol is consumed.\
• Provide education sessions through the club, to address racism and Islamophobia and promote a safe social and cultural space for Muslim girls.
• Offer come and try programs for mums to participate in, to address the stigma and sense of social exclusion, through engaging them to play the sport.
• Connect with local schools, a safe point of connection with families and to offer free or low-cost participation programs to girls on the school grounds.
• Provide work experience opportunities at the club for Muslim girls, to introduce them to roles other than as players and as an introduction to the sport industry.
• Provide families with financial support, where the club can, or promote financial support options available for families who cannot afford to pay the fees and purchase the necessary equipment and appropriate sportswear for girls to play,
  such as via the Get Active Kids program.

Role: Promoter
Councils can promote opportunities and increase visibility for women and girls to participate in community sport.

Recommendations:

• Provide transport solutions which offer safer bicycle paths, to encourage and increase physical activity.
• Promote Muslim women role models and sport programs, through council communication channels, to increase the visibility and representation of Muslim women and girls playing sport within the community, including images with those wearing a hijab.
• Build trusting relationships between the council, local Islamic schools and sporting clubs, through a sports inclusion officer at council, to work directly with schools and clubs in partnership. to promote participation of Muslim women and girls in sport.
• Promote the financial supports available for sport participation, for example via the Get Active Kids program as well as any grants provided via council.
• Promote and financially support existing community initiatives and programs that cater for the needs of Muslim girls and women.

Role: Connector
Schools are culturally and socially safe places and a can be point for community connection beyond children’s education.
Recommendations:

• Utilise the ‘physical, cultural and social’ safety of schools, to facilitate working together with communities, local council and local sporting clubs.
• Build trust with parents to build support for girls’ participation in sport.
• Provide education and promote participation in sport to parents to highlight that sport and physical activity contributes to better health and academic performance.
• Invest time and resources in establishing a trusting relationship between the school and local council, eg. through a community engagement officer role at the school to promote participation of Muslim women and girls in sport and work directly with the sports inclusion officer at the local council.
• Offer free or low-cost programs on the school grounds for girls, including those delivered by clubs.
• Engage Muslim women athletes (in hijab) to visit the school to talk to young girls about the paths they have taken to engage in sport.
• Promote the financial supports available for sport participation to parents, for example via the Get Active Kids program.

Role: Enabler
Families have lived experience and can build understanding of others regarding cultural barriers and enablers to participate.

Recommendations:

• Actively participate in the sporting club, either participating in sporting programs and/or taking up administrative roles within the club.
• Build understanding of the benefits of girls playing sport – wellbeing and academic performance.
• Work with clubs to share experiences and actively support positive changes by clubs to address barriers to girls’ participation, such as appropriate uniform options.

Role: Participant
Girls understand what motivates or inhibits them from playing sport and connecting with their peers.

Recommendations:

• Support parents’ understanding of the academic and well-being benefits of playing sport