PARISSA SAFAI
“Find a community to hold you as you make and take up your space and then, when you're ready, pay it forward.”
Meet Parissa, a Professor and Chair of the School of Kinesiology & Health Science at York University, and the current President of the International Sociology of Sport Association (ISSA). Her research and teaching focuses on the critical socio-cultural study of sport at the intersection of risk, health and healthcare including the social determinants of athletes’ health. Her interests also centre on sport and social inequality with focused attention paid to the impact of gender, socio-economic, and ethnocultural inequities on accessible physical activity for all.
FEMALE LEADERSHIP IN SPORT
“To those who may sometimes feel like an imposter as a leader in sport, my advice is: when you feel like an imposter, pause and remember that you are working in a system and institution that too often tells female leaders they do not belong in sport leadership. It is not you. You do belong, and imposter syndrome is a waste of your energy, your brilliance, and time.”
A PIVOTAL SPORTING MEMORY
“The first time I stepped onto a rugby field and made a tackle stands out for me as a personal turning point in my understanding of myself as capable and athletic. Having not grown up in a family environment where sport participation was encouraged, I stumbled into my school's rugby club by chance and on a whim. But my first run on the pitch, throw of a ball, and tackle hooked me into what ended up being a 20-year long passion. My first tackle was my first opportunity to be physical and powerful in ways I had never thought I could be - I felt strong and able.
As an athlete, I was fortunate to learn and play rugby alongside early women sport leaders in the rugby community. Women such as Bridget Bohan, Kelly O'Brien and Debbie Kilfoyle were fearless is making space for girls and women in the sport at a time when very few girls and women were playing. As an academic, my commitment for humane sport for all was sparked by two mentors--Peter Donnelly and Bruce Kidd--both of whom have committed their entire careers to equity in and through sport.”
GENDER INEQUALITY IN SPORT
“Gender inequity in sport is deeply linked to broader forms of inequity for girls and women. Disposable time and money remain prerequisites for sport participation, and any effort to improve access to and meaningful experiences in sport demands attention to socioeconomic disparity and income inequality. This includes greater policy and programmatic focus on the unpaid labour of girls and women, both inside and outside the home, as well as the persistent social and cultural expectation that they bear the lion's share of caregiving and childrearing responsibilities.”
STORYTELLING IN SPORT
“You cannot be what you cannot see. Therefore storytelling and representation in media are pivotal in offering others a sense of their own possibility whether as an athlete, a sport leader, or an ally to others. We can ensure more diverse stories by ensuring the widest range of storytellers, not all of whom will share their journeys in written form. To that end, the narratives must be welcomed in text, in spoken form, in song, in visual media and more.”
PAY IT FORWARD
“I grew into my power and presence as an sport advocate and academic with the support and encouragement of others who share my deeply rooted conviction that structures and systems of inequity need to be dismantled through collective action. I now hold dearly onto the belief that I must pay forward that support and encouragement to others who are emerging into their own power and presence. Find community to hold you as you make and take up your space and then, when you're ready, pay it forward.”
