By Nick Lenehan, EDIA Lead

Sport Nova Scotia’s Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA) work is well underway through support from a shared strategy with our partners, grassroots funding programs, and education and engagement. One key area has been the addition of three EDIA Sport Navigators; community-based staff positions dedicated to supporting the needs and realities of underrepresented individuals across Nova Scotia.

The goal of the EDIA Sport Navigator program was to look outside the traditional sport system. Taking the organization’s established Regional Sport Consultants as a model, the EDIA Sport Navigator positions were created to work outside that traditional sport system and connect with those groups and individuals who have maybe never saw themselves as part of sport.

There are currently three EDIA Sport Navigators: Haley Mood in Yarmouth, Maria Fraser in Antigonish, and Maddie McDonald in Halifax. Each lives in the area they serve, with a mandate to serve their local community based on the needs and realities of EDIA in sport, whatever that looks like: 

For Haley (Yarmouth) this has meant working closely with Easter Seals to support para and adaptive sport opportunities, being a part of the newly formed Youth Wellness Network for identifying and creating community supports for Yarmouth’s youth. She has also been working closely with the Tri-County Regional Centre for Education support staff, municipal colleagues and community leaders to create safer, more inclusive spaces for youth programming. 

One of Maria’s (Antigonish) main objectives has been working to support a diverse and growing community of Newcomers to Antigonish in accessing community-sport programs, responding to a current gap of support in the local sport and recreation landscape. She also works very closely with the municipal recreation departments on their initiatives and targeted programming, and acts as a true connection-point for all of these groups with local community sport organizations and others like X Project, Ahead of the Game and Y-Reach. 

For Maddie (Halifax), the role again looks different based on the needs of Halifax. She has been part of various multi-partner groups to help support Newcomers in sport and recreation, regularly supports non-sport organizations around navigating our EDIA Community Funding, and works closely with other collaborators like HRM Rec, the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre, the IWK, YMCA and the Boys & Girls Club.

These three, hard-working staff have helped show that changing the landscape of sport, and sometimes changing sport itself, is in fact possible if we lead with curiosity and humility, and follow it up with support and action. Visit www.sportnovascotia.ca/our-team to reach our EDIA staff!