North Carolina Sports Association (NCSA)

Recently held a Diversity Summit for which member communities all across the state came together to learn how to become a truly inclusive and welcoming destination.

NCSA is a Member of:

Compete Sports Diversity Council

A group with 150+ member organizations reaching 250,000 leaders, athletes and fans. The mission of the Compete Sports Diversity Council is to bring together leaders, athletes, fans and professionals together to further sports diversity. We accomplish this by creating a platform based around the IDEAL principles of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity/Equality, Acceptance and Leadership to connect, educate, empower, and inspire mission driven LGBTQ+ and allied sports and community leaders, sports organizations, non-profit groups, tourism partners, corporate partners, and athletes through our membership, media, and event platforms.

What does the Compete Sports Diversity Council do?

• Bring our members together to create open dialogue and cooperation within the LGBTQ+ sports community through our Summits that are held multiple times throughout the year.

• Provide sports specific DEI training and education to our members and the public through our SDL/SDLT (Sports Diversity Leader) Training and Certification Program.

• Introduces inclusive brands to our audience while inspiring and celebrating both sports and diversity through our media platform, publishing content online with our blog as well as through the semi-monthly magazine and tournament guides,

• Connects sports organizations to prospective sponsors/partners and CVBs and sponsor/partners and CVBs to sports organizations with the Compete Sports Diversity Membership Council.

What is “Sports Diversity?”

Simply put, we believe that communities are strongest when everybody has a seat at the table. Our passion for sports combined with our passion for diversity comes together to help promote and push for LGBTQ+ inclusion and representation in sports. However, #SportsDiversity as we like to call it, is subjective to the diverse community of people we have built upon with the Compete Sports Diversity Council. For every member, #SportsDiversity is something unique to their own passions, mission and goals. Here is an example from our Managing Editor and Manager of Education, David “Dirk” Smith, M.Sc., SDL (He/Him).