Muslim netballers will no longer have to sit on the sidelines as a major barrier around uniforms has been dropped.

Following Sport NZ’s recent study into building cultural inclusion in sport which identified Western uniforms as a barrier to participation, Sport Waitākere has partnered with Netball Waitākere to make the game more ethnically inclusive. This has involved revising regulations for uniforms and removing the requirement to apply for dispensation to wear a hijab. 

Sport Waitākere Community Sport and Recreation Team Lead, Javeed Ali, said previously players were not able to wear culturally appropriate sportswear but Netball Waitākere’s new multicultural uniform guidelines will encourage participation.

“Our ethnic communities face many barriers when participating in organised sport. We are proud to be working with Netball Waitākere to be explicitly inclusive of our ethnic wāhine. Hopefully, this initiative will see more ethnically diverse participants in netball in West Auckland,” says Ali.

Netball Manager from Netball Waitākere, Tabitha Winter says the organisation welcomed the approach and were keen to update its regulations.

“Women who need to wear head coverings or undergarments due to religious or cultural reasons no longer have to apply for dispensation.  Netballers can now wear a long sleeve top and leggings or tight-fitting pants and an appropriate head covering,” says Tabitha.

Sport Waitākere has partnered with Fit Generation Apparel, a muslim-run business, to help make discounted activewear available, including sports hijabs.

“Having Fit Generation support our work and provide discounts to our community allows women to purchase purpose made hijab and activewear that are specifically designed for sportswear,” says Ali.

Race relations commissioner, Meng Foon, said he welcomes any change that will remove barriers for people to enable them to participate fully in everyday life, including sports and recreation.

“The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and the right to manifest that, as well as being free from discrimination on the grounds of religious belief, are important in our society. We have seen a number of organisations take that into account when it comes to their uniform policy in recent years, and it is pleasing to see Sport Waitākere take similar steps to make it easier for those from our Muslim community to play netball.”

References:

Sport NZ study: https://sportnz.org.nz/media/3379/building-cultural-inclusion-in-sport_final-17-7.pdf

Netball Waitākere’s Multicultural Uniform Guidelines: http://www.netballWaitākere.co.nz/asset/downloadasset

Article added: Friday 19 November 2021