Figeroua's Framework

* Equity affects nearly all aspects of our lives none less than sports such as beach volleyball. Sport is an integral part of today’s society and as such, sport should be organised, participated in and distributed in an equitable manner.The aim of equity in sports is to encourage all people, regardless of age, gender, disability or ethnic origin to participate in and develop their potential within sport. Disputes over equity have been apparent in our society for hundreds of years, over such things as gender, religion or race. A framework developed by Figueroa deals with equity. It consists of five levels that link together – individual, interpersonal, institutional, structural and cultural. The following paragraphs demonstrate the use of Figueroa Framework as a tool to analyse the barriers to my performance in beach volleyball and part of this involves a peer evaluation (Appendix A).Each of these levels interacts with equity issues in various ways. These numerous levels deal with social beliefs, values, social position, power, media coverage, resources and rewards (Kirk et al, 2004). Each of the five levels mentioned above relates to the others in some way.

Equity and Access
Two concepts that are important to sociology are the closely linked ideas of equity and access.
Equity is studied to determine whether resources are distributed fairly to all members of a society. Sociologists also study whether all individuals within a society have access to resources or whether barriers or obstacles are in place to prevent certain groups of people from accessing them.
In sport, studying equity and access helps us to understand why some people are less likely than others to participate in sport and physical activity. Different types of barriers—which can vary from the financial cost of sporting equipment to cultural attitudes about the types of activities that are appropriate for males and females—can restrict individuals’ access to some sports and physical activities.