OVA’s Commitment to Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Continues with Upcoming Initiatives

The Ontario Volleyball Association (OVA) is committed to creating an equitable and inclusive volleyball community for all our members. The OVA has a long-standing commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and strives to ensure that all members of the volleyball community feel welcome, respected and valued. With the volleyball community’s support, we have implemented several initiatives to ensure that everyone who participates in volleyball activities in Ontario can do so in a safe and welcoming environment.

As our indoor season continues and culminates with our largest ever Ontario Championships, we would like to remind all members, partners and stakeholders of our, and your, dedication to creating an environment of inclusion by celebrating and respecting the diversity of cultures, backgrounds, genders, races, sexual orientations, abilities and religions.

In addition to the community focused initiatives to promote equity and inclusion within the volleyball community, the OVA is engaged in the following major projects to improve our organization to be more inclusive, in all forms:

• Hired the consulting firm, Korn Ferry to work toward enhancing our organization for greater inclusion of BIPOC athletes, coaches and referees. Their first engagement with OVA members will be via a survey launching in February 2023, to ascertain the current views and experiences of present and past OVA members.
• Participated in Volleyball Canada’s DEI project lead by Deloitte; which explores ED&I in volleyball and inclusive leadership. The nine-month project featured surveys, interviews, focus groups and workshops with volleyball community members in a variety of roles across the country.  Next steps in this project include the finalizing of critical interventions and action plans which were outputs from a December 2022 workshop which OVA attended.
• Cooperating with the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner to conduct an assessment of our sport environment in order to cultivate a safe, welcoming and inclusive sporting environment.

If you have advice on how we can enhance our sport environment, please feel free to reach out to our Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Advisory Committee which provides guidance on how to create a more equitable and inclusive environment for everyone. This group is made up of members of the volleyball community who have experience and expertise around equity and inclusion and can be reached via kmaharaj@ontariovolleyball.org. We are always looking for innovative ideas to enhance our existing events and projects, or help in creating new initiatives that may benefit BIPOC, LGBTQ2S+, persons with disabilities or any underserved community that can benefit from the indoor, beach, grass or sitting versions of volleyball.

Most importantly, we would like to thank our clubs, coaches and referees for maintaining a culture of inclusion in the volleyball community and providing safe and welcoming environments for all athletes and families.

The OVA’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion will help ensure that the volleyball community in Ontario is a place where everyone feels welcome, respected and valued.