By: Izzy Cheung, staff writer
Compiled by SFU Master of Science graduate Martha Gumprich and Trans Connect’s Nicola Hare, The Canadian Non-Binary Youth in Sport Report details the lack of non-binary youth within organized sports. One of the report’s main conclusions was that “only 11% of non-binary youth in Canada currently participate in an organized team sport.” This is in comparison to the 67% of overall Canadian youth who are enrolled in one or more organized sports. Gumprich and Hare noted that 66% of non-binary youth who have avoided joining an organized sport have done so due to the ways that sports divide their teams: by gender.
“While we are starting to see more visibility of non-binary people in Canada, we know that non-binary youth feel uncertain about the degree to which they are welcomed and safe in gendered spaces, like team sports,” Gumprich said in an interview with The Peak. “There has been some previous research on transgender participation in sports, but no research on participation rates and experiences of non-binary youth in organized team sports in Canada. In order to make sport a safer place for all participants, we must first listen to those both participating in and avoiding sports to see where changes need to be made.”
To conduct this study, Gumprich and Hare held youth group sessions with 20 queer, non-binary, and trans youth whose ages ranged from 14–26 years old. These sessions were held in Nelson, Castlegar, and online. Their report begins with a definition of non-binary, which they describe as meaning “someone’s gender does not fall exclusively into the categories of man or woman.”
Sports fields, courts, or locker rooms are typically thought of as a place where teammates can be safe with one another, but Gumprich and Hare’s report reveals this isn’t always the case. The report’s many findings determined that four out of five non-binary youth in Canada who have avoided joining organized sports have done so because of “changeroom/locker room layouts,” in which players may not get the privacy they need when changing. Moreover, one out of two non-binary youth have cited teammates and coaches as a reason for avoiding sports. They “have witnessed discriminatory comments,” and more than one in six have witnessed someone being “physically harassed because of their gender.”
“The reasons non-binary youth are avoiding sport are very interesting because nearly all of them can be addressed through education and policy changes that can happen immediately,” Gumprich added. “If we act now and put in place proactive and protective policies, these youth may join and stay in sport which we know leads to many mental and physical health benefits.”
“Some of these solutions include allowing non-binary athletes to choose the gendered team they wish to play on, have co-ed teams, create gender neutral changing areas with single stalls, using people’s pronouns and preferred name, and better education on diverse genders and sexualities,” Gumprich mentioned. “With better understanding comes a reduction in fear and an increase in acceptance.”
This report is not the only study conducted by Gumprich on non-binary youth in sports. Their master’s thesis used data collected from the UnACoRN (Understanding Affirming Community, Relationships and Networks) Study in order to learn more about these experiences. This data was collected through an online survey taken by youth aged 15–29 across Canada. In future studies, Gumprich hopes to move into “the policy, action-based side of sport, and help organizations implement [their] solutions.”
To learn more, The Canadian Non-Binary Youth in Sport Report can be read in full at ankorstransconnect.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/non-binary-youth-in-sport-report.pdf.
