Apply to Take Part in AASP's Affinity Group Initiative

The Association for Applied Sport Psychology (AASP) is pleased to announce its inaugural offering of Affinity Groups (AGs). The AASP AG Initiative was developed to intentionally create space for members with shared identities and roles to build community and to articulate, promote, and support their experiences, needs, commitments and/or responsibilities, especially as they pertain to equity, diversity, inclusion and belonging. AASP is positioned to provide continued leadership and support to members in their own healing and action to end oppression. We feel that gathering in spaces around shared identity and roles allows members to engage in conversation while providing mutual support that empowers individual and collective progress. We are excited to observe the ways the AG Initiative will flourish and support not only AASP members but also to toil for greater equity, inclusion and belonging in the field and beyond.

Applications for all Affinity Groups are due August 15, 2021 by midnight (PST). Please submit all application materials in a SINGLE PDF to the aligned Affinity Group Facilitator/Co-Facilitators listed below on this page.

Application Materials include:

• A brief statement on how the individual relates to the core identities and/or interests outlined in the AG description
• A CV/resume
• Confirmation of current AASP membership

The three inaugural Affinity Groups include: (1) Black Students and Professionals in Sport Network (B-SPN) to be facilitated by Dr. Leeja Carter, (2) Students Engaged in Social Justice Activism and Research to be facilitated by Bernie Compton, Deyja Enriquez and Cherokee Washington and (3) The White Accountability Group to be facilitated by Dr. Bradley Bryk. Affinity Group Facilitators and Co-Facilitators are excited to invite members to join their AGs. 

Please find more information below on the three Affinity Group offerings for AASP members as well as their aligned visions and dedicated group contacts.

BLACK SPORT PROFESSIONALS NETWORK (B-SPN)

Celebrating Black Brilliance

Our Vision: We envision a profession that supports, cultivates, celebrates, and recognizes the existence, history, imprint, and future of Black people in the sport, exercise, and performance psychology profession.

About Us: The Black Sports Professionals Network (B-SPN) is an AASP Affinity Group for diverse Black professionals and students in sport and performance psychology. B-SPN seeks to create an open, enriching, and liberatory space seeding Black brilliance and celebration. B-SPN will establish a group that meets the needs of our Black members and is another tool for advocacy and education around the diverse experiences of Black professionals, athletes, and all within the sport community.

Objectives 

• Cultivate a community of growth, care, and respect.
• Establish a network for mentorship and development for AASP’s Black members.
• Build a community of support and advocacy for AASP’s Black members’ needs and experiences.

Join Us!
B-SPN is open to current Black-identifying members of the Association. Interested AASP members should send a brief statement on how they relate to the core identities and/or interests the Affinity Group has been formed around and a CV/resume to Dr. Leeja Carter at leeja.carterphd@gmail.com by August 15, 2021, by midnight (PST).

STUDENTS ENGAGED IN SOCIAL JUSTICE RESEARCH AND ACTIVISM

Our Vision: We strive to foster a space to create, support, connect, reflect, progress, engage in self-care, and make an impact in research, academia, the classroom, and in applied settings.

About Us: Students Engaged in Social Justice Research and Activism was borne out of AASP student members desiring a space to brainstorm and collaborate on intersectional social justice activism. This Affinity Group will host a space for students from various disciplines, backgrounds, and understandings.

Objectives

• Meet and collaborate on projects.
• Give and receive feedback on initiatives.
• Provide support and empowerment for one another.
• Engage in self-care.
• Collaboratively engage in advocacy efforts.
• Continue learning and refining skills.

 We hope to provide a space for students to support one another, build a space to process, and bring in professionals, panelists and mentors for student activists. Additionally, we will aim to address intersectional disparities, issues, and concepts across the “isms” as they relate to sport psychology, kinesiology, and physical education contexts to push these fields towards true inclusivity and safety for all members.

Join Us!
Interested AASP undergraduate and graduate student members should send a brief statement of interest on how they relate to the core identities and/or interests of the Affinity Group, as well as a CV/resume to our three co-facilitators, Bernie Compton (comptob@bgsu.edu), Cherokee Washington (cherokee.washington@mcgill.ca), and Deyja Enriquez (deyja@bu.edu) by August 15, 2021, by midnight (PST).

WHITE ACCOUNTABILITY GROUP

Our Vision: Raising white consciousness and disrupting whiteness

About Us: In this group, members will work to dismantle oppression in our lives and institutions by raising white consciousness and its meaning, discovering internalized white dominance, learning how one shows up in whiteness, and ultimately, working to interrupt racism in ourselves and our communities. It is incredibly important for white and white-presenting/passing folx in AASP to become aware of our power and privilege as we show up to work within the sport and performance sector of our society. This Affinity Group will discuss learning how to become comfortable with the uncomfortable plus how to show up as allies for those individuals that hold marginalized identities. Together, we will focus on fostering antiracist perspectives and policies. As white and white-presenting/passing people, change in our society will only occur when white and white-presenting/passing individuals come together as a community to do the “heart” work that is needed to confront intrapersonal, interpersonal, institutional, and systemic racism, while being aware of the various intersectionalities with other cultural identities.

Join us!
This is a call for all white and white-presenting/passing current members of AASP to join a brave space to reflect, discuss, learn, grow, and most importantly, take action to hold our AASP community and ourselves accountable as we continue to work towards dismantling white supremacy in all the spaces that it lives.

Interested AASP members should send a brief statement on how they relate to the core identities and/or interests the Affinity Group has been formed around as well as a CV/resume to Dr. Brad Bryk (Bradley.bryk@gmail.com) by August 15, 2021, by midnight (PST). 

FAQs  for the Affinity Group Initiative 

1. What is the objective of Affinity Groups?
   AGs will engage AASP members in personal work and provide a socio-emotional and professional space for members to process and grow with others within one’s cultural/social group(s) and role(s).
2. How do I join an AASP Affinity Group?
   Email a brief statement of how you relate to the core identities and/or interests the aligned Affinity Group has been formed around, your CV/resume, and confirmation of current AASP membership to the Affinity Group Facilitator/Co-Facilitators by August 15, 2021, by midnight (PST).
3. When will AASP Affinity Groups begin to meet and how often?
   Each individual Affinity Group will collectively determine when and how often they will meet.
4. Who is eligible to join an Affinity Group?
   AASP Affinity Group participants must be members of AASP and relate to the core identities and/or interests outlined in the AG description.
5. What happens after I submit my application to join an AASP Affinity Group?
   The Affinity Group Facilitator/Co-Facilitators will email you with confirmation of your acceptance to the group and share next steps.
6. What if an AASP Affinity Group I’d like to participate in or create is not currently offered?
   If there is an offering you had hoped to begin or participate in but were unable to submit a proposal, an opportunity to create additional AASP Affinity Groups will be provided next summer.
7. What are possible examples of Affinity Groups?
   Affinity groups provide an environment for members of cultural/social groups and with specific roles to work with others who possess the same core identities, roles and/or commitments. Core identities are self-claimed social identities that are part of a person’s sense of self. Examples of core identities include sex, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, ability, and religion. Roles that we inhabit may also be part of our sense of self. They may be personal (e.g., mother) or professional (e.g., college sport psychologist). Neither our identities nor our roles are experienced in isolation. Consequently, a group may gather around a single identity, or a group may share multiple core identities and roles. Applications that are most aligned with diversity, inclusion, advocacy, and membership needs may take precedence in being accepted over others. In accordance with values of inclusion, AGs will be developed by members rather than the organization naming or pre-determining AGs.
8. What if I still have questions?
   If you have any questions about the Affinity Group Initiative, please feel free to email Tanya Prewitt-White, PhD, CMPC (Advocacy Committee Chair and Affinity Group Liaison) at drtanyaraquel@gmail.com.