From Policies to Practice: A Perspective on Change from a University Athlete
By Caitlin Schropp
On Friday the 12th of October, 2018, the Dalhousie Health Law Institute (HLI) hosted its Ethics in Sport Roundtable. This was the first of its Satellite Series of events that build upon its HLI Law & Policy Seminar Series. The roundtable was attended by representatives of several major sports bodies in Nova Scotia, comprising sports from speed skating to cycling, and by stakeholders in university, high-level, and community sport, including athletes, coaches, and athletic directors. Katrina Karkazis, a member of the Global Health Justice Partnership at Yale University and an advocate for intersex athletes in sport, spoke to issues faced by intersex athletes in international competition. The discussion was chaired by HLI Policy Analyst Shawn Harmon and LLM student Kate Scallion.
The group extensively discussed USports’ equity policy. (USports is the national governing body for university sports in Canada.) The policy was amended on 27 September 2018 to address inclusion of transgender athletes. It states that transgender student athletes may compete on the team corresponding with either their sex assigned at birth, or the gender with which they identify, provided they comply with the Canadian Anti-Doping Program, and are within their 5 years of eligibility total in either male or female competition (USports Policies Section 80.80.5). The varsity athletics roundtable participants explained the policy was unanimously passed with little difficulty. The ease of passage was attributed to the USports Board being comprised of university presidents, not coaches or others directly involved in sport, so the emphasis was always on equality and equity rather than sport politics or the practical details of application across sports. Surprise was expressed that the policy passed at all, let alone so easily, as similar ground-breaking resolutions have faced barriers in other jurisdictions, including in American varsity athletics.
The Roundtable agreed that, while most people directly involved in sport believe that everyone should be able to engage and access the positive effects of sport and competition, sports have an inherently exclusionary nature; there are a limited number of spots on every team, and this can lead to conflict and politics in all types of sports. Some imagined this policy could be a factor in creating further conflict in team-selection politics, while promoting equality overall. In any event, the true implications and effects of the policy on the day-to-day operation of sport and specific competitions remain to be seen. Regulations under the policy are being developed by the USports Equity Committee, but are not yet available. Concern was expressed that this delay could lead to confusion and uncertain application. Despite concerns, the policy was widely received as a win for equality and inclusivity in sport.
As a university athlete myself, this discussion caused me to reflect on how the policy could affect my sport – artistic swimming (formerly called synchronized swimming). I am president of the Dalhousie Synchronized Swimming Club, and a Board member for the Canadian University Artistic Swimming League (CUASL). Artistic swimming is different from many other sports. At the international level, it is limited to women, except in the mixed duet event that has just been introduced. At the university level, all athletes are eligible to compete, and, regardless of gender, they compete in the same categories (CUASL Rulebook 2018-2019 Section 5.1.3). In short, team members perform together, and teams are only as strong as their weakest link. A team is judged on synchronization, level of difficulty, execution, and artistic impression, meaning that athletes are judged on more than just a single criterion. This judging model – which is both multi-factor and team-based – may make gender-based performance differences less impactful on the overall result than in other adjudged, mixed-gender team sports. For example, in figure skating or gymnastics, individual men and women athletes perform and their scores contribute to the team’s overall score, meaning that binary categories remain, together with gendered approaches to excellence and scoring.
This absence of gender division differentiates artistic swimming from most other sports, creating conditions for competitions to be based solely on skill and artistic merit, with gender becoming a non-issue in terms of regulations and competition. This, in my view, is inherently equitable, and no one has voiced any dissatisfaction with the participation of all genders in every category. In fact, community artistic swimming clubs have begun to offer classes targeted at young boys, to introduce them to the sport, and also implemented mixed-gender teams. In CUASL, there have been men competing alongside women at both the novice and the experienced level for some time, and while not a USports sanctioned sport, artistic swimming teams demonstrate values that align with the USports policy. The small size of the sport, and the unpredictability of both athlete participation and audience attendance means that university artistic swim teams are happy to welcome any athlete who is capable, regardless of gender. Far from the USports policy on transgender athletes being a cause for concern, then, I think it will be happily embraced. Indeed, I think it is highly compatible with the CUASL policy, which is broadly worded to include “any gender”, rather than using binary gendered language; its aim is to welcome all to participate without a concern for gender or the need for a targeted transgender policy. In effect, any shift in our sport caused by the USports or other policies will not be the merging or modification of two existing categories, but the expansion of a single category.
As Karkazis explained, a major reason that the lamentable IAAF policies and the admirable USports policies exist is the division of sports into gender-based categories. As discussed by the Roundtable participants, this begs the question – is the next step to a more inclusive sport community the removal (or restriction) of gender-based competition? If so, CUASL has perhaps shown us the way. But what other methods of structuring could exist? Skill-based, self-identified categories were presented as a potential alternative, but a piece-meal approach might create problems. Using artistic swimming as a case study, it is clear that a skill-based approach has the potential to function well in team-based sports, but may not be universally applicable. In some sports there are proven performance differences between the sexes, and skill-based categories might result in the exclusion of female or transgender athletes from high level competition. There is no one clear solution to ensure equity, but sport-wide collaboration at all levels and from all stakeholders, including coaches, athletes, parents, organizers, and governing bodies, would be required to implement change.
The Roundtable concluded with a proposed Joint Statement of Values and Practices with an emphasis on gender equality and inclusivity in sport. It was felt that such a Statement, if it focused on values, could help push to the forefront of sport, at all levels of competition, the importance of inclusivity, equity and sensitivity, and could help normalize discussions around inclusivity and the practical matters involved in moving to a more inclusive and equitable sport community. CUASL would likely endorse the proposed Joint Statement, as it aligns well with the values it already strives to embody; the goal of CUASL is to allow athletes of all levels to start or continue to swim while they study. I anticipate that the dynamics of artistic swimming will continue to evolve as its membership diversifies, and I believe that moving away from gender-based categories in other sports would be beneficial to explore. The proposed Joint Statement could be a useful tool to assist this exploration, and to help with self-evaluation and guided culture change.
