NBL recognised at Pride in Sport awards

For the first time NBL has been recognised at the 2024 Pride in Sport Awards, achieving bronze tier status following a submission to the PSI Index.

In addition to the awarding of the bronze tier, the NBL was nominated for the LGBTQ+ Inclusive Innovation Award for its 2023 Champion Pride Round and Government Relations Manager, Kristen Penny was named the Australian Pride in Sport Ally of the Year.

The Pride in Sport Index is a benchmarking instrument that measures participating organisations against other sports in order to not only determine areas in which they are thriving, but also note where improvements can be made within the LGBTQ+ space.

The Pride in Sport Index, which operates in three-yearly cycles and labels the path to earning the recognition as “a three-year journey … [with] an expectation entry points into the respective tiers will change” over time.

Penny says the recognition is a positive step towards ensuring men’s basketball is a more inclusive space.

“The index is benchmarking against what’s out there and what’s happening in this space,” Penny said.

"There are policies in place to assess everything you've done throughout the year from things around recognising special days of significance, to undertaking different activities within the pride space.

"Your entire application is around those items you implement, and you're awarded a number of points per question. The final result is given as a percentage score on how many metrics you hit.

“Isaac Humphries being the first openly gay male basketballer playing at the current time is huge, and then the NBL taking on the responsibility of going against the grain and being the first male basketball league to implement a Pride Round, educate the players, and put the money and education behind it is huge for the LGBTQ+ community.

“This is the first time we’ve ever achieved bronze which is exciting. Of course, we want gold, but it’s baby steps in this space and we’ll continue to take them.”

Penny has been a driving force behind the NBL’s Champion Pride Round over its two seasons of existence and has been one of the most vocal individuals in the space of LGBTQI+ support since joining the league.

Under her watch, all players and staff employed by NBL clubs – and the NBL itself – have undertaken pride training modules to further educate and inform around issues within the LGBTQI+ space.

Penny’s initiative not only saw her named as Pride in Sport’s Ally of the Year, but also directly led to NBL Champion Pride Round’s nomination for the Inclusive Innovation Award.

She says the one of the biggest positives to come out of the early years of Champion Pride Round is the wider discussion now being undertaken.

“I think the good thing is the open dialogue,” Penny said.

“We meet with the CEOs and speak to them about if the players don’t want to participate and what potential ramifications from the wider public could look like as a result. You’ve just got to play it by ear.

“The challenge is you don’t know what you don’t know, so we don’t know how it’s going to perceived, if what people are going to target and who they’re going to target, we just have to keep making change and moving on in that space. If we stop, we’ve been defeated and we’ve given up.

"Winning the award is a little bit embarrassing, honestly, because it is such a team effort.

"We want to get to a stage where Pride Round is not needed because that education and acceptance around the LGBTQ+ community is the norm, but it's definitely humbling and a team effort to be recognised in this fashion."