‘Intelligent investment’? Welsh sport policy and the (in)visibility of ‘race’

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we draw on research conducted in Wales to consider reasons for participation and non-participation in sport and physical activity among Black and minoritised ethnic (BME) groups. This study exposes the challenge at the heart of sports policy in relation to ‘race’ and ethnicity in Wales that, if not addressed, may lead to the marginalisation of attempts to increase BME participation in sport and physical activity despite good intent. It points to a disjuncture between supply and demand and leads us to question the extent to which such policies resonate with the interests, needs and lived experiences of people from different BME communities in Wales. We draw on testimonies of policy-makers and implementers, as well as individuals from various BME communities in five regions of Wales, to consider the extent to which national sports policy encourages strategies to increase participation among different ethnic groups. We suggest that increasing participation among BME communities and other ‘hard-to-reach’ groups must go beyond accounting for the supply aspects of sport and physical activity to consider more critically the plethora of barriers and exclusions facing many BME communities. We conclude by arguing that for racial inequalities to be reduced, and promises such as ‘sport for all’ to be realised, the analysis of policy needs to be related to broader relations of power in the culture of both sport and society.

KEYWORDS:

• Black and minoritised ethnic (BME)
• race
• sport participation
• sport policy
• Wales

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Black and minoritised ethnic (BME) is a popular acronym used in policy circles in the UK, used to denote the diverse positions and identities of racialised ethnic groups not included under the label of White British. We acknowledge that the term includes much internal diversity.

2. Warmington’s (2009) scare quotes surrounding much use of the term are to acknowledge and problematise its everyday use in rudimentary and inchoate vocabularies, and prompt continued critical challenges to racism drawing on a more complex and political lexicon.

3. At the time of the research, the ‘austerity’ policies of the UK government preoccupied the minds of policymakers, and they have now been in place for a decade.

4. Details of which are available in Long et al. (2015).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Sport Wales [Understanding participation and non-participation].

Notes on contributors

Katherine Dashper

Katherine Dashper is Reader in the School of Event, Tourism and Hospitality Management at Leeds Beckett University, UK. Her research focuses on gender and identity and draws on post-humanist perspectives. She is author of Human-animal relationships in equestrian sport and leisure (Routledge, 2017).

Thomas Fletcher

Thomas Fletcher is a Reader in the School of Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management at Leeds Beckett University, UK. He is author of 'Negotiating fatherhood: Sport and family practices' (Palgrave 2019). He is Chair of the Leisure Studies Association and a member of the Editorial Board of Leisure Studies.

Jonathan Long

Jonathan Long is an Emeritus Professor with the Institute for Sport Physical Activity and Leisure at Leeds Beckett University.  He has long been researching issues of leisure and social justice with a particular emphasis on ‘race’ and ethnicity. In recent years he has also been helping to co-ordinate an initiative exploring the relationship between sport and the arts.