Playing Together – New Citizens, Sports & Belonging
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PLAYING TOGETHER Introduction PLAYING TOGETHER – NEW CITIZENS, SPORTS & BELONGING Full Study Report – July 2014 PLAYING TOGETHER Table of contents INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 3 Message from Institute for Canadian Citizenship Executive Director & CEO, Gillian Smith Executive summary STUDY 101 ........................................................................................................................................ 7 Research method CHANGING THE GAME PLAN ........................................................................................................... 11 Canada’s sports organizations & demographic shift FINE-TUNING THE LINEUP ................................................................................................................ 18 How new citizens play sports in Canada Barriers to participation Kids’ participation CATCHING THE GAME ...................................................................................................................... 25 Sports new citizens follow Attending & watching trends Barriers to watching the game New citizen engagement opportunities FIRST PICK ...................................................................................................................................... 35 Cultivating belonging through sports PUT ME IN, COACH! ........................................................................................................................ 42 Conclusion & recommendations from new citizens APPENDIX ...................................................................................................................................... 45 Appendix 1: Online survey questions Appendix 2: Focus group questions Appendix 3: About the ICC & its supporters 2 | P a g e PLAYING TOGETHER Introduction Jose, Cultural Access Pass Member SECTION I INTRODUCTION PLAYING TOGETHER Study 101 A sport is a sport. A fan is a fan. Gillian Smith, Institute for Canadian Citizenship Executive Director & CEO Playing together – new citizens, sports & belonging Sports are familiar, safe spaces to connect to new tells the story of sports as an effective means to people. By playing together, we build connections, help new Canadians feel at home. The insights of community and, ultimately, our country. more than 4,000 new citizens – delivered via an online survey and nationwide focus groups – tell We are grateful for the generosity of our sponsors, the tale of becoming Canadian, in part, by playing Bouygues Building Canada and Lois & Doug and watching sports together. Mitchell, who made this study possible. From cheering for Canada’s Olympians, to learning The Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC) is a how to play a new sport, to making new friends at national not-for-profit charity devoted to new their children’s sporting events, new citizens have Canadian citizens. We are inspired by the stories of told us how sports helped them feel included in those who have chosen to make Canada their Canadian life. home and, through our programs, we work to advance their path to full integration and inclusion While sporting activities should be more widely in Canadian life. recognized for their role in knitting Canadians together, barriers to inclusion in sports still exist: Playing together – new citizens, sports & belonging access, cost, lack of information and other factors is the first of a series of reports on the experiences contribute to new citizens’ inability to participate. of Canada’s newest citizens. Through our connection to new Canadian citizens who have The good news is that the barriers cited by new participated in our programs – more than 100,000 citizens are mainly structural challenges, rather to date – the ICC helps bring the voices of new than cultural issues. The question is not why new citizens to all Canadians. citizens should be included, it’s a matter of how. “Sport is more of a culture than a hobby Through our research, we discovered dozens of 1 here. It’s a part of life,” local-level initiatives designed to connect all Canadians through sport. But more needs to be done: we need to change how we think about sport and modify how sporting structures operate. Most importantly, we need to listen to new citizens’ experiences and bring their perspectives to bear on how Canadians organize themselves to play. In this report, new citizens offer their own recommendations to reduce or eliminate real and perceived barriers to participation. As it turns out, a sport is a sport and a fan is a fan, 1 Focus group discussion, May 8, 2014. To protect the no matter where in this world you were born. confidentiality of our participants, all names used in the report are pseudonyms. PLAYING TOGETHER Study 101 Executive Summary We also learned that Canadians are generally more than happy to invite new citizens along to try or Playing together – new citizens, sports & belonging, watch a new sport. conducted by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC), explores how new Canadian citizens But there are barriers – largely structural – that participate in sports in Canada and the role that keep some from getting in the game at a more sports play in their integration and belonging. It organized level, leaving them to practice individual provides recommendations on how Canada can sports that take less time and cost less money (e.g., better facilitate new citizens’ participation in running, walking, biking and swimming). When sports. they do play sports, new citizens tend to gravitate toward those they already know, such as table This study was completed in three phases: an tennis, basketball and badminton. Some of the environmental scan; an online survey of new more important barriers we identified in the study citizens; and eight nationwide focus groups. are as follows. This study is unique in the following ways: TIME & COST We talk to new citizens, generally resident in The first few years after arriving in Canada are Canada for five to seven years. intense: finding jobs and homes, and getting We explore the range of their experiences, children settled in school are key priorities. Our from before they came to Canada, to survey results and focus group discussions indicate immediately after arrival, to now. that the “survival period” can last much longer We focus on adult participation rather than than the first few years. Even after becoming more children’s. established, new citizens are busy building careers We explore trends in grassroots participation and raising families, leaving little time to dedicate and attendance at sporting events. to sports, either as participants or fans. We investigate in more detail the connections between sports, belonging and citizenship. HIGHLY STRUCTURED SPORTS SYSTEM We learned that new citizens are game – they want Focus group participants commented that the to join, learn, play and cheer. While integration Canadian sports system is very “organized,” which may not be one of the primary reasons they can make playing sports more difficult to access. participate in sports in the first place, upon Unfamiliarity with league play or sports reflection, the new citizens who participated in the infrastructure (such as community centres) and the study said sports helped them learn Canadian inability to find the appropriate skill level or anyone culture. Sports are safe places to meet other to play with all play a role in keeping new citizens Canadians who share similar interests. On the field on the sidelines. and in the locker room, new citizens learn the social norms of their new home. Occasionally, those conversations delve more deeply into Canadian politics, history and culture. Major sporting events – from the Olympics to the Stanley Cup playoffs – have a way of bringing all Canadians together and making new citizens feel part of the team. PLAYING TOGETHER Study 101 NEWNESS BRINGS NERVOUSNESS English/French classes, libraries, and community centres. Focus group participants also identified a hesitation Recruit new citizen ambassadors and send that comes with being in a new environment. They them out into their communities armed with may not be confident in their ability to learn a new information. Capitalize on the expertise new sport (especially completely unfamiliar winter citizens bring and engage them as volunteers, sports) or to break into already established sports coaches, etc. networks. Give new citizens the chance to try a sport INFORMATION DOESN’T with little financial risk or time commitment REACH ITS AUDIENCE through “learn to” opportunities. Create entry-level pricing for lessons or Many new citizens reported that they just don’t memberships. know where to look for information, and that the Promote workplace-based sports and information they find is incomplete. This applied to recreation. sports they wanted to practice and those in which Create a tax benefit for adults who play sports. they wanted to register their children. They also Offer newcomers discounted tickets for don’t know where to find information to purchase sporting events, with an explanation of the cheap tickets or where to read up on the rules sport and its rules. before heading to a game. Get professional sports teams out into VIOLENCE IN SPORTS communities to develop connections with their members and increase familiarity with Many new citizens are hesitant about sports that sports and its players. are overly aggressive or violent. Parents are reluctant