Arrogone Archers Received Award for Excellence in LGBTIQ+ inclusive practices in Sport

Recently, the Tasmanian Minister for Sport and Recreation Nic Street proudly presented Arrogone Archers the 2022 Dorothies Encouragement Award for Excellence in LGBTIQ+ inclusive practices in Sport. A fantastic achievement for a small club that has been driven by making archery fun and accessible to all.

Running Inclusion Archery Sessions

“We’ve always been coined as the social club by the other clubs in the state, so we’re working hard to make the name stick by building a strong inclusive community for all. We’re doing things a little differently and hopefully we’ll become the gold standard for other clubs to follow,” commented Josh Cortes, Vice-Chairperson of Arrogone Archers.

The club has hosted a variety of come n’ try sessions targeted at encouraging people from across the community to try archery. Their rainBow sessions were a great success with the LGBTIQ+ community as were their women’s sessions for International Women’s Day. These sessions were run as a normal come n’ try format but in a more relaxed environment.

Benefits of Running Diversity and Inclusions Sessions

“It’s bringing a lot more recognition to the sport, but also letting the LGBTIQ+ community that there’s another safe space for them. By outwardly promoting inclusion in all its forms, we as clubs can make not only our spaces amazing places to be, but also help reduce intolerance as a whole,” explained Josh.

As a result of the work Josh and the team at Arrogone Archers have been doing, it has brought in more archers to their club.
“We’ve been approached by a local high school to run sessions and we’ve ended up with several home-school groups too.
“I’ve also taken part in several radio interviews for the sessions and the two free sessions we ran for International Women’s Day and for International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia recently.

“We’re certainly having more conversations with businesses and politicians about grants and sponsorships. We’re just seeing so much more growth now; it’s really heartening to see,” said Josh

CEO of Archery Australia, Rick Hastie said: “It has been fantastic to watch the great work that Arrogone Archers have achieved in promoting the inclusiveness of our sport and we are very proud of what they have achieved.

‘Archery is a sport for everyone, and we want to continue to ensure that all Archery Clubs are a place for all to feel welcomed, included and a part of the wider Australian Archery community”

If you are interested in how your club can be more inclusive we recommend, as a starting point, completing the Play by the Rules Inclusion and Diversity online module here.