On Thursday 30 May, we had Hayley, CEO of Pride Cup run an education session for our Committee, Coaches & Managers. The session explored current issues affecting LGBTIQ+ participation in sport and how clubs like ours can create a safe environment for everyone and challenge homophobia in sport. Some key statistics:

• Only 6% of young LGBTIQ+ people have participated in team sports because they don't feel safe or welcome to (LGBTQI+ participation in sport survey 20212 - Pantene Australia)
• 87% of young gay men do not feel comfortable coming out in their sporting environment (outonthefields.com)
• 74% of lesbians are partially or completely in the closet while playing youth sport, fearing discrimination from players & officials (outonthefields.com)
• 78% of people surveyed in the 2015 Out On The Fields study believed an openly gay person would not be very safe as a spectator at a sporting event
  (https://outonthefields.com/media)
• Homophobic language in sporting clubs reduces by up to 40% when a Pride Cup event and education session is held (https://pridecup.org.au/2021/05/03/evaluating-lgbti-inclusion-within-sport-and-the-pride-cup-initiative-pride-cup-vichealth-and-monash-university-2/)