5 How can my sporting organisation be inclusive? 5.2 Inclusion policies To maximise inclusion, sporting organisations should have a policy that specifically promotes the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people. This could be a stand-alone policy or included within an existing policy. Inclusion policies, particularly when publicly available, can: • help a transgender or gender diverse person identify a sporting organisation that will welcome them • encourage a transgender or gender diverse player to remain engaged in sport throughout their transition or affirmation • provide guidance to staff and volunteers at a sporting organisation on how to include transgender and gender diverse participants and respond appropriately to any issues that may arise. Case study How policies and people create inclusion Sara is a young trans woman who is very talented at volleyball. She is looking for a new club to join. She is early on in her transition and has not had any medical interventions. Sara is eager to join a club that accepts her as a woman and allows her to play in the women’s competition. She goes online to try and find the inclusion policies of some volleyball clubs in her area. She finds a club whose policy specifically mentions that transgender players are welcome and encouraged to play for the club in the gender category they identify with. She also reads that the club has an inclusion officer she can speak to if she has any questions about joining the club. Sara calls the inclusion officer to ask about the culture of the club. The inclusion officer is very approachable and tells Sara that in their experience the club is very welcoming. Sara is relieved and registers to play. Case study Including non-binary people in mixed sports Jay’s workplace has recently entered a lunchtime, mixed AFL 9s competition. Under the competition rules, each ball-up involves two opposing players of the same gender. Jay is non-binary and does not identify as a man or a woman. The captain of Jay’s team privately asked Jay if they would prefer to be counted as a man or a woman for the purpose of the ball-up. Jay said that they did not really mind. The captain had a quick word to the umpire and it was agreed that Jay could participate in the ball-up against both men and women. 34