Kick It Out launches Grassroots Consultation

Kick It Out, football’s equality and inclusion organisation, has today launched a consultation seeking opinions on discrimination at grassroots level.

The consultation will provide players, coaches, referees and parents with the opportunity to offer their thoughts on discrimination and its impact on individuals and teams across the amateur game.

Realising the important role played by grassroots figureheads, supporters and activists across the country in their local communities, the consultation will also look to find out how Kick It Out can engage further with players, coaches, referees, parents, clubs, leagues and County Football Associations.

In March, Kick It Out announced a 35% increase in all reports of discrimination received at the midway point of the 2014/15 season. Despite this, the volume of complaints raised at grassroots level have remained relatively low and Kick It Out is eager to increase confidence in the reporting processes and the mechanisms in place.

The consultation will be open for a three-month period between April and June and will provide Kick It Out with essential data as it looks to shape its work with grassroots and community football in the future.

To participate in the consultation, please visit the link at the bottom of the page.

Speaking about the consultation, Roisin Wood, Director of Kick It Out, said: “We are delighted to be launching our grassroots consultation.

“It is important that people are aware of discrimination and its effects across all levels of the game and this consultation will help us better deliver our messages of equality and inclusion.

“We want to get a greater understanding of how Kick It Out can interact with the hundreds of thousands of people who give up their time to get involved with football at the grassroots level and help remove discrimination from the game.”

Troy Townsend, Education and Development Officer for Kick It Out, said: “This consultation will help Kick It Out engage with grassroots communities up and down the country, canvass their opinions and help form a strategy to support this level of the game.

“My involvement at grassroots level spans over 30 years, and I am fully aware of the need for better dialogue so that we can raise awareness around the issues of discrimination in the game.

“Hopefully we can use the results to help strengthen the relationships we have at the grassroots level but also allow Kick It Out to develop new connections to reach further than we have ever done previously.”

Jim Lusted, Chair of Kick It Out’s Grassroots Guidance Group, said: “It’s great to see Kick It Out launch a consultation for the grassroots game.

“It gives the people who live and breathe community football a fantastic opportunity to have their voice heard about discrimination in the game and what can be further done to ensure an inclusive football environment for all.

“The consultation will be used to shape both current and future priorities in the work Kick It Out do. I really look forward to seeing the results and working with Kick It Out’s Grassroots Guidance Group to embed the findings from the consultation into future activities at the grassroots level.”

For more details visit https://cory8.typeform.com/to/uTePRj