True Sport

BC Artistic Swimming (BCAS) has been trail-blazing a meaningful commitment to culture change in their sport through their activation of True Sport since 2017. Since that time, they have continued to explore innovative and fun ways to bring True Sport to life within their network.

One of the reasons that True Sport appeals to this provincial sport organization is that it provides guidelines on how to achieve the culture change they seek. BCAS’s primary focus is to engage members in constructive conversations about how they can work together to foster a sport experience that makes everyone proud.

"Our commitment to True Sport helps us ensure that the sport we are offering is providing a fun, safe, welcoming space for all members – not just for our athletes but also volunteers, staff, coaches, and officials,” said Jennifer Keith, Executive Director of BC Artistic Swimming.  

Here are some great examples of how BCAS is living True Sport:

• Offering in-person workshops to promote True Sport to their members (pre-COVID-19) and integrating True Sport within all BCAS events since 2017.

• Participating in a True Sport Activation Workshop in February 2021 to develop an overarching provincial True Sport Strategy.

• Challenging their members to share examples of how they are living the True Sport Principles through social media campaigns that focus on a different principle each month using the hashtag #TrueSportTuesdays.

• Hanging signed True Sport banners at events and including True Sport branding in all they do, including staff/board signature blocks, letterhead, and event programs.

• Embedding True Sport language and commitments into staff contracts, provincial coach contracts, recruitment processes, strategic plans, organization values statement, etc.

• Activating the EVOLVE culture renewal project, in partnership with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport through the Sport Canada Innovation Fund.

• Developing a True Sport Policy that will apply to all BCAS members.

Jennifer Keith’s advice to anyone who is looking to implement True Sport in their organization is to recognize that, “Small steps make a big difference! Be consistent with your messaging and remember that change doesn’t happen instantly - stay the course and don’t give up!”