Summary of the impact

The impact of our research is on promoting racial equality through sport and leisure spanning almost twenty years from our early work with the Rugby Football League (RFL). The nature of the impact has been three-fold: the incorporation of key findings into professional equality standards, guidelines and continuing professional development (CPD); enhanced public understandings of race and the multiple forms of racism; and the stimulation of debate to shape policy and improve opportunities for sport and leisure. Impact has reached a wide range of beneficiaries, including sports governing bodies; sports councils; professional sport; equality/ diversity organisations and teacher education.

Underpinning research

Our key research findings demonstrate first, that racism is reproduced through broader structures, organisations and practices and is not just a reflection of individual attitudes; second, there are multiple forms of racism, resulting in qualitatively different experiences for individuals, not least because of intersections with other forms of discrimination such as sexism; and thirdly, a key inhibitor of racial equality is denial of the existence of racism itself.

A series of studies conducted in the 1990s [1], led by Long (then Reader, now Professor) and supported by Spracklen, Hylton and Carrington (PhD students, now Professors, and Carrington 0.2 Research Fellow), mapped the nature and extent of racism in professional RFL, local league cricket, grassroots football and basketball. A key finding identified that support for racial equality varied within and between organisations, with denial of the existence of racism by key stakeholders an important barrier to the development and implementation of effective anti-racist practice. Hylton's (2003) PhD research and subsequent book [2] focused specifically on exploring these processes in local government's (dis) engagement with racial equality, the first study worldwide to draw on Critical Race Theory (CRT) in its analysis of sport policy and practice. These studies informed the development of a number of national equality campaigns and standards in sport, such as Kick it Out's Equality Standard for Sport.

In the late 1990s early 2000s we led a series of studies focusing on participation and sport and leisure experiences of black and minority ethnic (BME) groups. Carrington's research [3] explores sport's role in the way race and racism are perpetuated, and its place within black diasporic struggles and in relation to the politics of recognition within contemporary multicultural societies. Hylton's research (senior lecturer, now Professor) on BME participation in sport in Bradford, underpinned the development of SportsWeb, an advocacy network aimed at increasing ethnic diversity and well being.

Two local studies [4] by Scraton (Professor, now Emeritus Professor) extended our earlier focus on men's sport, by centring black and South Asian women's experiences of physical activity programmes. The Zindagi research in 2000, conducted for Kirklees Council, revealed the complex interrelationship of race, gender and class in South Asian women's experiences of a physical activity intervention programme. A later study (with Holland, Research Assistant, now Research Fellow) mapped the under-representation and experiences of BME women footballers in Yorkshire and Humberside; recent work by Ratna (senior lecturer), Stride (PhD student, now senior lecturer) and Watson (principal lecturer) has continued this intersectional analysis.

In 2007/8, Flintoff (Professor) extended the focus on sport to physical education and led the first national study [5] of BME students' experiences of PE teacher education revealing training contexts characterised by racial and gender stereotyping and `colour blind' practice. In 2008, Sporting Equals and the UK Sports Councils commissioned us to conduct a systematic review of participation by BME communities in sport and recreation [6] in recognition of the strength of our expertise and research in this field.

Our research has demonstrated that although there may be a growing participation of BME communities, sporting bodies and related organisations remain characterised by an overwhelming whiteness.

References to the research

(bold names indicate current Leeds Met staff):

Research Grants supporting the research

• Long (1994-5) The Nature and Extent of Racism in Rugby League, Commission for Racial Equality/Rugby Football League, £2,300
• Long (1999-2000) Racism in Grassroots Football, Kick It Out, £5,850
• Long (2002) Raising the Standard, Sporting Equals, £8,650
• Hylton (2002-3) Sportsweb, Bradford City Council, £10,470
• Scraton (2003-4) The Experiences of Black and South Asian Women Footballers, British Academy, £4788
• Scraton (2003) Zindagi: Women and Leisure, Kirklees Sport and Recreation Council, £2340
• Flintoff (2008) (with Chappell, A.,Gower, C., Keyworth, S., Lawrence, J., Money, J., Squires, S. L. and Webb, L.) Black and Minority Ethnic Trainees' Experiences of Physical Education Initial Teacher Training, Training and Development Agency (£19,730).
• Long & Hylton (2008-9) A Systematic Review of Black and Minority Ethnic Communities in Sport and Physical Recreation, Sporting Equals and the UK Sports Councils, £19,959.50

Prizes/Recognition

Hylton received the Higher Education Academy's 2011 C-SAP, Director's Recognition Award for his contribution to the Centre for Sociology, Anthropology and Politics' `Race' Research Special Interest Group.

Details of the impact

Racism is a major societal and cultural issue, and over the last twenty years sport has had a high profile within public debates about racism and the development of effective antiracist strategies. Our body of research over this time has impacted incrementally upon these processes through the development of professional equality standards, guidelines and policies and CPD; enhanced public understandings of race and the multiple forms of racism; and the stimulation of debate to shape policy and improve opportunities.

The first impact is on the development of professional equality standards, guidelines and policies and CPD. As a sensitive political issue, studying racism raises complex implications for research practice and the dissemination of findings in order to have impact. An important part of our research has been to establish long term relationships with individuals based in a wide range of organisations and networks, locally and nationally in order to maximise impact. For example, researchers Long and Spracklen have been members on national equity/diversity panels responsible for developing and implementing equality standards in sport [A], and others have moved into roles within the university from positions within local anti-racist organisations and networks (Spracklen from Sporting Equals; Hylton, a former member of the Black sports forum (BEMSport) in Yorkshire, and his research on BME participation underpinned the development of SportsWeb in Bradford).

The second impact has been to make significant contributions to national agendas and emerging policy initiatives around racism. Our initial research for the RFL and the Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) laid the foundations for the Tackle It campaign in the mid 1990s [B] (the first anti-racist campaign by a national governing body of sport) and, reflecting our sustained research relationships, its subsequent re-launch in 2010. Long has been a member of the national Accreditation Panel for the Racial Equality Standard for Professional Football Clubs, established by Kick it Out, and drew on research from the Centre for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion on the intersection of race with gender, sexuality, and disability in its subsequent development into the now generic Equality Standard in 2009 [C]. Spracklen has played a similar role as a verifier for the Equality Standard for Sport [http://www.equalitystandard.org/]. Although some time after our 2000 report on racism in football, the English Footballing authorities have included some of our recommendations in their 2012 `Inclusion and Anti-Discrimination Action Plan' [D] . Flintoff was invited to present her research on BME students' experience of PETE in two national CPD events aimed at teachers and teacher educators in 2009: the annual conference of the national network of teacher trainers, and the Association for Physical Education, Equity conference; the report was also included on `Multiverse', a Professional Resource Network, funded by the TDA, to support teachers to raise the achievement of students from diverse backgrounds [E]. Our close relationships with high profile practitioners and policy makers, and the high regard in which our research on racism is held by those outside academia is evidenced by Lord Herman Ouseley's involvement as one of the keynote speakers at our 2005 national conference on Sport and Anti-Racism in the 21^stCentury, and in his written introduction to Long and Spracklen's (2010) book, Sport and Challenges to Racism. More recently, our collective expertise and reputation in the field led to our being commissioned to produce the systematic review of participation by BME communities in sport and physical recreation in 2009, providing an important evidence base for underpinning the work of Sporting Equals and the UK Sports Councils to increase ethnic diversity in sport [F].

Our third impact is on enhancing public understandings of race and racism, nationally and internationally, including through media coverage. Hylton's book on `Race' and Sport: Critical Race Theory, was named as one of the top ten resources for thinking critically about the role of sport in society, including a teachable summary of the book in an innovative on-line North American based collection, The Social Issues Collection by Routledge [www.socialissuescollection.com]; he has had various media interviews and high profile keynote engagements as a result of his work [G], and was invited to compile a special collection on Race, Ethnicity and Sport of electronically/web-based materials deemed significant for researching race, ethnicity and sport, for the British Library [H]. Carrington's work has similarly reached international audiences; he discussed his book on the BBC Radio 4 `Thinking Allowed' programme (audience of 2 million) [I], and on Al Jazeera TV [I], and through two 2012, keynote addresses at Runnymede Trust events, which attracted journalists, policy makers, community activists and athletes [J].

Sources to corroborate the impact

[A] Sporting Equals, 1301 Stratford Road, Hall Green, Birmingham B28 9HH. 0121 777 1375

[B] The Equality & Diversity Manager, Rugby Football League, Red Hall, Red Hall Lane, Leeds LS17 8NB, 0113 2375037 http://www.therfl.co.uk/the-rfl/equitydiversity/tackle-it

[C] Kick it Out: Equity Standard
http://www.kickitout.org/298.php http://www.sportingequals.org.uk/services_research.php

[D] English Football's Inclusion and Anti-discrimination Action Plan http://www.thefa.com/News/thefa/2012/dec/david-bernstein-anti-discrimination

[E] Director of Multiverse, and Convenor of the British Educational Research Association Race, Ethnicity and Education Special Interest Group, University of Chichester.

[F] Long, J., Hylton, K., Spracklen, K., Ratna, A. & Bailey, S. (2009) Systematic Review of the Literature on Black and Minority Ethnic Communities in Sport and Physical Recreation. Sporting Equals and the UK Sports Councils. http://www.sportengland.org/research/

[G] Invited Speaker, All Party Parliamentary Group on Race and Community meeting on Race and Sport, House of Commons (12/12/11, Committee Rm. 8). Invitation Extended by Rt. Hon. David Lammy MP and the Runnymede Trust. Available from Leeds Metropolitan University.

[H] British Library (2009) `Race', Ethnicity and Sport in the Sport and Society web archive
http://www.bl.uk/sportandsociety/exploresocsci/sportsoc/sociology/articles/race.html

[I] Thinking Allowed: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wlg3c
Al Jazeera Television Broadcast: http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/whats-behind-violence-sports- matches-0022054

[J] Runnymede Trust Events:
http://www.runnymedetrust.org/news/420/163/Does-Sport-Promote-or-Challenge-Racism-A- Discussion.html
http://www.runnymedetrust.org/news/429/391/Sport-in-the-Dock-with-Professor-Ben- Carrington.html