Uplifter Inc is proud to introduce a new LGBTQI2S inclusivity feature into our membership management software: customizable gender fields.
Hundreds of clubs, schools and associations on the Uplifter platform can now easily add custom gender options to participant profiles in addition to the default male and female options. This means your sports club can now create additional gender identification options to match the youth that are registering for their next event or season!
This addition of gender field options will impact over 400,000 participants involved in youth sports and recreation on the Uplifter platform. Now, clubs, schools and associations can make sure everyone feels included in the fun!
Why Create a More Open & Inclusive Club Experience?
According to research in both the United States and Canada, LGBTQI2S youth and teens participate in sport at half, or less than half, the rate of their non-LGBTQI2S peers. Those who do play, are more likely to drop out of sport earlier than their non-LGBTQI2S peers.
We know that our Uplifter software plays a small part in a much bigger picture. But we believe that an infrastructure improvement like this makes it easier for sports clubs, schools and associations to adopt inclusive practices that can help create a more welcoming experience for LGBTQI2S youth.
For some clubs on the Uplifter platform who haven’t had the conversation yet, we hope this feature enhancement can bring them one step closer to establishing inclusive policies and partaking in LGBTQI2S inclusivity training.
If your club wants to begin inclusivity training, there are some great resources available from CAAWS and the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. These include CAAWS’ Leading the Way: LGBTQI2S Inclusion in Sport Presentations and Workshops and CCES’ policy and practice template: Creating Inclusive Environments for Trans Participants in Canadian Sport.
Background on LGBTQI2S Inclusion Efforts in Sport
In 2015, an important summit took place in Toronto, called ‘The 519 Sport Inclusion Summit’. It focused on advancing LGBTQI2S inclusion at the recreational level of sport. From that summit came the creation of an LGBTQI2S task force and recommendations for more inclusive practice in numerous areas of sport, including the national and provincial organizations.
Empowering National and Provincial Inclusion
Skate Canada is a proud partner of the LGBTQI2S task force. As Skate Canada CEO, Debra Armstrong explains that partnership is aimed, “to develop training to make [the] sport even more welcoming to the LGBTQI2S community [and] advance [their] vision of inspiring all Canadians to embrace the joy of skating.”
As Skate Canada’s only Trusted Partner for Skating Club Software and Skate Canada’s Official Partner for event registration software, our desire to improve upon the inclusivity of our software was one that we knew could make an immediate improvement in the sport’s administrative tools.
We also know that today’s youth are making efforts toward establishing gender equality for all young people. So, we wanted to ensure that organizations that provide services for those youth have the infrastructure to offer equal treatment.
Building Better Club Software
At Uplifter, our internal motto guiding many of our development decisions is, “we can elevate that!” It’s the motto that drives our developers to build things the right way, for the right reasons.
When we examined our software through the lens of openness and inclusion, we saw an opportunity to elevate the online registration experience for LGBTQI2S youth and their families. So, our development team undertook the work in the summer of 2018. A couple short months later we’re happy to say that our registration and member profile features are better for it.
If your club or association is already using Uplifter’s software, here’s what you need to know about creating a new customizable gender field.
Instructions for Uplifter Members:
In order to create a custom gender field for your club, school or association, navigate to Settings> Uplifter Settings> Site Options > Age & Gender Settings section. There you can select the option that allows you to create a new, custom gender field.
Submitting Member Registrations To An Affiliate?
Whether Skate Canada, Gymnastics Ontario, or any other affiliate, many membership databases currently accept ‘Male,’ ‘Female’ and ‘Other’ gender details. As a result, during your Uplifter gender field creation you will need to attach one of these values to the field before submitting your participant to your affiliate section/office. This value will allow the databases to sync-up. For more details, please visit Learn.Uplifterinc.com or contact us at support@uplifterinc.com.
