Banner Photo: Shot by Bec
Quadball Australia is committed to providing A Sport For Everyone. As a part of this, we aim to provide resources and otherwise help the facilitation of groups that have been traditionally marginalised or pushed out of sports, or may find it harder to access sport, including women, people in the LGBTQIA+ community, and people with diverse racial or cultural backgrounds. Here, you can find resources, articles, explainers, and more, to help you become a better ally and your club become a more inclusive space, making the sport better and more accessible for everyone.
Quadball is one of the only sports in the world to explicitly allow any gender to play on field at the same time, including those identifying outside the gender binary, and we are always trying to promote and support the involvement of women in sport.
All quadball athletes have the right to define how they identify and it is this stated gender that is recognised on pitch. The ‘four maximum’ rule of quadball states that there may be no more than four players of the same gender on pitch at one time, ensuring the sport is inclusive to all genders and that gender diversity is always maintained on the field of play.
No matter what background, race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, or culture you come from, whether you come from a competitive sports background or have never played sports before, you’ll find there’s a place in quadball for you if you are also willing to include others.
Recent Statements
Pride Month - June is Pride Month. Pride has always been a central part of the quidditch community, and we want to recognise and reaffirm how much we value this part of our community. In light of recent events, Quadball Australia would like to reiterate our unequivocal attitude of inclusion of everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, ability, etc. We would especially like to affirm, as is written into our rules, that quadball first and foremost recognises a person's gender as they identify it. This includes transgender people, agender people, people outside the gender binary, and more. We would also especially like to recognise the particular challenges faced by gender diverse and other LGBTQIA people of colour, and stand in solidarity with all those who seek to right these injustices in our society. At Quadball Australia, we will continue to do our best to support marginalised communities within our sport, and believe that beyond these continued commitments, we must also provide tangible change and progress. As such, this month, we are working towards building a new section on the QA website dedicated to resources, stories, and education around issues of equity in quadball, and sport more broadly. We will also be hosting a strategic forum focused on equity in quadball, to inform the future of the development of the sport in Australia. We hope you will join us with the broader quadball community in continuing to make strides in equity and inclusion, and make this A Sport for Everyone.
IDAHOBIT - 30 years ago today, the WHO removed homosexuality from it's classification of diseases and health related problems, making today the 30th year of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia! Quadball is proud to call itself a sport for everyone - where people, no matter their sexual orientation or gender can be themselves, can find community, and can belong. Quadball Australia will always strive to improve the accessibility of sport for people who often struggle to find a place in other sports. We love that ours is a community where people can be open about who they are and whom they love, and find kinship with others like them, and we will continue to do our best in standing up for all of our players against homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia, to provide a space where everyone can feel welcome. Find out more about IDAHOBIT at www.idahobit.org.au
Recent Articles
Resources
Helping You Learn and Helping Clubs Be More Inclusive
General Resources:
Play By The Rules - Free online courses on topics including harassment, discrimination, complaint handling, and inclusivity, designed for sport clubs.
Inclusive Sport Toolkit - Sport Australia
Inclusive Sport Resources - Inclusive Sport Design, Recommended by Sport Australia
LGBTQIA+ Inclusion:
Athlete Ally - Free online course for coaches on LGBTQ inclusion
MyPronouns.org - Resources on how and why to use different personal pronouns
QueerSport - Covering Australian LGBTQIA+ sport
Guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in sport - From Sport Australia, developed with the Australian Human Rights Commission
Game To Play? - Research from Western Sydney University on experiences and attitudes towards sport in LGBTQIA+ young people
Racial & Cultural Inclusion:
Cultural Diversity in Sport - Clearing House For Sport
Women in Quadball:
Quadball Australia IWD Photo Album
AllIn Video Series - Short videos teaching quidditch skills aimed at women from QuidditchUK’s All In Initiative
TinyReferee Blog - Experiences and resources on refereeing from Zoe Ford
Women in Quidditch Facebook Group - Official group for Women in Australian Quadball
Coaching:
The Empowerment Guide - A Guide written by members of the gender engagement committee to help players who feel disadvantaged in the sport due to size, athleticism or gender. This comprehensive guide provides tips for players and coaches on how best to improve skills and confidence on pitch, and run trainings more inclusive to different body types.
Mental Health:
Mental Health Resources for Athletes
Mental Health Awareness for Sport and Physical Activity
Join the Conversation
Articles and Podcasts on Diversity and Equity from the Quadball Community
Quadball Articles:
Assessing and Addressing Racial Diversity in Australian Quidditch (Ajantha Abey, June 2020)
Stop Using the Term “Non-Male” (Grace Dastous, May 2020, The Eighth Man)
QLD Gender Engagement: SCF Women on Pitch and Level the Playing Field (Laura Smith & Alise Fox, February 2020)
The Three Waves of On Pitch Inclusion: Presence, Participation, Determination (Courtney Buckley, February 2020)
How No One Benefits from the Gender Norms of Chasing (Taylor Angelo, February 2020)
How Inclusive is Quidditch Really? (March 2020, Daniel Knoke, Germany)
I’m Female and I Want to be a Keeper (and why that scares me) (Krystina Semmler, January 2019)
”Are We Breaking Gender Rule?” Women in Livestreaming (Annemieke Drost, The Quidditch Post January 2019)
Texas Secede League’s Femme Fatale Fantasy 2018 Recap (Alejo Enriquez, FaceBeatIt, November 2018)
QA Statement: Gender in Quidditch (Cameron Caccamo, August 2018)
Why Being The Most Inclusive Sport in the World Takes More Than a Gender Rule (Anonymous, August 2018)
What I’ve Learned Through Gender in Quidditch (Cameron Caccamo, August 2018)
Women on the Australian Team, 2016-2018 (Sophie Fitch, August 2018)
Non-Binary Matters: Why We Need To Keep Quidditch Gender Diverse (Khai-tri Tegan Diep, August 2018)
Non-Male is Non Progressive (Ana Barciela, August 2018)
Why Co-Ed Sports Leagues are Never Really Co-Ed (Catherine LeClair, Deadspin, July 2018) (Quidditch Discussion) (Aus Quidditch Discsusion)
Drafting Women and Non-Majority Players in a Fantasy Tournament (Ali Markus, FaceBeatIt, July 2016)
Podcasts:
What’s Next? - Jackie Ross, from FaceBeatIt, interviews US Quadball players about gender and ethnicity in quidditch (multiple episodes)
Barcelos Explains It All - Elizabeth Barcelos talks gender in US Quadball (Episode 2)
Gender Engagement Committee:
Inclusion of women and gender diverse people is one area of priority for Quadball Australia as a mixed-gender sport. To this end, Quadball Australia’s Gender Engagement Committee was formed in 2018 and specifically focuses on creating resources, ensuring policies and practices are gender inclusive, and empowering historically marginalised genders in sport.
You can find out more about the committee including their current initiatives, publications, meeting minutes, reports, members, and more below.
Looking back on 2019 and Looking Forward to 2020 (Courtney Buckley, February 2020)
Interview with Courtney Buckley, Head of the Gender Engagement Committee (Ajantha Abey, April 2019)
Extracts from the #ASportForEveryone Campaign
Zoe Cheong seeks to explain to the lay-quidditch person what it is like to be outside of the gender binary. In this article, they examine the common perception of biological sex as a binary, and how this breaks down upon closer examination. This is the first in a series of four articles by Zoe exploring sex, gender, identity, expression, and all of the complexities of being a minority in a minority sport, aiming to help more people understand non-binary perspectives and how more people how they can make themselves and the broader quidditch community more inclusive.