Diversity and Equity; How to Lead the Change We Need

As we approach this new year hopefully, we have all taken a moment to reflect on the many things that have brought us to this point in time and thought about the steps we can take to move forward in the most positive manner possible to affect change. As swim school owners, instructors and water safety advocates, we always push the importance of swim lessons, learning to swim and safety in and around the water as well we should. So, what can we do to lead the change within our swim community?

Over the last few years most have been witness to the many challenges surrounding the topic of diversity, race and equity, but for people like me, it’s been a topic of discussion for all of my life. As a black woman who is married to a Caucasian Jewish man and raising 2 biracial young men during the current climate, the major topic of discussion in our family continues to center around race, diversity and equity.

There are a lot of people that have very strong opinions surrounding these topics, some don’t want to talk about them, some are tired of talking about them, and quite honestly many simply don’t know how to start talking about the matter. So, how do we start the conversations that will allow us to begin to open ourselves to understanding one another, our differences and similarities? • Do we truly understand what diversity and equity means • Are we able to recognize the issues and problems • Can we Acknowledge the issues and problems • How do we commit to starting the dialogue • How do we work together to embrace our communities of color • How do we join forces to support productive solutions

BY SHANNON SCHAFER

OWNER/DIRECTOR INCLUSION SPORTS PERFORMANCE TRAINING

If we take a look at each of these and see how we as a swim community can lead the change we want to see and support change one step at a time, what do you think it would look like? I think we could truly be impactful together and make a profound difference.

UNDERSTANDING THE DEFINITION OF DIVERSITY AND EQUITY:

Diversity – is the range of human differences, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender identity, age, social class, physical ability or attributes.

Equity – ensures everyone has access to the same treatment, opportunities, and advancement and aims to identify and eliminate barriers that prevent the full participation of some groups.

RECOGNIZING THE ISSUES AND PROBLEMS:

If we aren’t able to recognize that there is a problem, what message does that send to our communities of color? Swimming in the community of color comes with a lot of negative history that we need to examine so that we start to understand the root of the fears and concerns regarding the resistance to learning how to swim.

ACKNOWLEDGE THE ISSUES AND PROBLEMS:

Giving acknowledgement to the issue allows us to work at coming up with productive solutions. Belittling it, or denying it exists, is just frustrating for people facing the issues. We know the numbers on non-swimmers in the black and brown communities is staggering and will continue to increase if we don’t come up with ways to spring into action.

COMMIT TO STARTING THE DIALOGUE:

Learning how to be a helpful ally to our communities of color requires us to have difficult conversations. Embrace your fear and recognize that with such a sensitive subject you may unintentionally get some things wrong and that’s ok. How do we learn? One of the goals of starting the conversation is to come to the table with empathy and a willingness to listen and learn, which will allow for steps towards lasting change. Working together to embrace our communities of color: • We know the numbers of nonswimmers in our communities of color is simply too high. • A significant number of families in our communities of color don’t trust anything related to swimming, so how do we help change this? > Host community outreach sessions once a month at your swim schools for families of color and listen to their fears and concerns > Allow the community a safe place to ask questions > Give tours so they can see first hand how swim lessons run > Offer once per month or every 3 months a ‘comfort in the water’ outreach session > Build the trust needed from our communities of color because there is distrust

> Reach out to local schools and community centers to discuss your diversity and equity initiatives (you will need to come up with a clear initiative) > Educate yourself on the needs of the community you serve and want to serve – Families of color have a number of concerns about their hair as it relates to swimming – Research products that would support their concerns, so they feel more comfortable and they consider enrolling for lessons without worry – If you don’t know where to start reach out to someone you may know that can help you or you can google If we all could take a moment to give thought to what it may be like for someone other than ourselves, for someone that looks differently than you do or for someone that may not have all the opportunities in life like you. Just imagine if we open ourselves and hearts to dig deep and truly lead and impact the change we want to see in the swim community, decrease the number of non-swimmers in our neighborhoods of color, increase the opportunity for us to hire a more diverse staff and ultimately have less tragic drownings across the board. Change is not easy, but it certainly is doable if we work together.

Inclusion Sports Performance Training and Schafer Sports Center have been in business for over 30 years supporting the needs of students with varied abilities through sports and recreation all while making a difference in the lives of so many. The commitment to community, inclusion, diversity and ensuring that all kids have access will continue to be a lifelong focus Inclusion Sports Performance Training and Schafer Sports Center. Kids First and Families Always Matter is the mission of Inclusion Sports Performance Training and Schafer Sports Center. Visit www.schafersports.com to find out more.