An exciting new project is combining football and arts for the LGBTQIA+ community in Hampshire.
Pride In The Shirt seeks to create a safe, inclusive space for young LGBTQIA+ people (16-21yrs) in Hampshire to be active and creative. The project will be staffed by LGBTQIA+ sports coaches and arts practitioners, and will support the young people to be active through sport, and to give a creative voice to their thoughts and feelings on the state of sport inclusivity and how things can change for the better.
Thanks to support from Hampshire FA and funding supporters, the project will train a young LGBTQIA+ sports coach, and will support a young LGBTQIA+ person to shadow the project and develop their facilitation and creative skills.
The project will run for 9 weeks, starting on Monday 31st March 2025 (Trans Day of Visibility), and will take place at AFC Totton.
Sessions will run across 2.5 hours, with the first half focused on football and sports activities, and the second covering a different creative practice each week. The arts sessions will cover writing, theatre, music, graphic design/arts, and fashion/ costume.
The project will culminate in the creation of:
– an educational zine designed by Holly Ward, documenting the participants experiences of being active, the current barriers to inclusion, and their vision for a more inclusive future – a commemorative football kit, designed by Megan Diehl with contributions from the project participants
– an LGBTQIA+-inclusive football chant/song, written and composed by the participants – a short video project overview, a short video project overview, created by CityEye Media, with support from trainee filmmakers from the LGBTQIA+ community
This project aims to create an inclusive and supportive space for the young LGBTQIA+ community in Hampshire to enjoy sport and be active.
By partnering with local football club AFC Totton and Hampshire FA, the project aims to foster better community understanding and harmony, and to help young people feel sport is accessible to them on a local level.
WHY NOW?
– 56% of LGBT women were not active enough to maintain good health, compared to 45% of women in the general population
– 55% of LGBT men were not active enough to maintain good health, compared to 33% of men in the general population
– 64% of LGBT people who identified as something other than male or female (eg genderfluid or genderqueer) were not active enough to maintain good health
– Sport England, SPORT, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY & LGBT 2016 Report
Barriers to inclusion for young people are on the increase in sport, particularly for those of a trans+ experience. There is a strong link in research in recent years between hostile attitudes towards minorities and the negative effect on their attendance, participation and sense of agency within school and sports.
All young people, and those of all ages, deserve access to sport and to live healthy, fulfilling lives without fear of judgement.
Ri Baroche, the organizer, explained: “In order for this to be the case for the young LGBTQIA+ community, projects such as these are needed in order to create safe spaces at the ground level to encourage young people to remain active and to see themselves as part of their local community.”
The project is supported by Culture In Common, Hampshire FA, Football Supporters’ Association, Southampton Pride and John Hansard Gallery, Southampton.
It is being hosted by AFC Totton, and supported through their charitable arm AFC Totton In The Community.
The project aims to create a lasting testament of the current state of sports inclusivity for young people, and how this might be improved upon going forward, with the words, creative ideas, thoughts and feelings of young people from Hampshire at its heart. This will act as a tool and learning resource for improving healthcare, sporting and community provision for the young LGBTQIA+ community within Hampshire and beyond.
Creations from the project will be displaced across Pride Month at John Hansard Gallery, Southampton.
The project may also enable the laying of the groundwork for the start of an ongoing football project for the community within Hampshire, and continue the expansion of safe, inclusive spaces for young people to be active in the area.
The project is being led by Ri Baroche, a trans/non-binary writer, musician, performer, theatre maker, poet and drag artist based in Hampshire. Their work is largely focused on finding entertaining and accessible ways into unwieldy subjects, and creating interesting sparks and friction between unexpected topics.
Ri has worked in a number of roles and contexts with young people, as a youth worker with Breakout Youth, as an Arts Facilitator with young entrepreneurship scheme The Agency in Southampton, and through their freelance work as a writer, theatre-maker and facilitator. They are led by the desire to create greater opportunities for their community, and to give a positive voice to people of LGBTQIA+ experience.
For more information about the project, visit: cultureincommon.co.uk/event/pride-in-the-shirt/
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