LOCKER ROOM TALK

Using VR to train sports coaches in gender equality

Educating young players to respect women and girls starts from an early age. One Swedish organisation is using VR to train sports coaches on how to prevent boys' locker rooms from cultivating misogynistic attitudes.

The challenge

To reach its target audience – boys between the ages of 10 and 14 – LRT sends trainers out to schools and sports clubs when they sign up to a course. The on-site training is an important part of LRT's business model, but has its difficulties:

Physical training is time consuming Sending trainers out to meet teams week after week can be a drain on LRT's resources. Meanwhile, teams can find it difficult to allocate time to LRT's sessions alongside their usual training routines.

Training doesn't always stick Some boys will switch off during educational videos and role plays if they're not engaging enough. Coaches can also feel that they need more tools to continue the work that other trainers have started.

While coaches have the technical know-how, they often lack the right tools or training to teach the boys how to behave around each other and talk about women and girls. LRT's challenge was to come up with a way to train the coaches themselves so that they could pass on their knowledge to their teams.

About the company

Swedish charity Locker Room Talk (LRT) was set up by Shanga Aziz and Rogerio Silva in 2016 to challenge male chauvinism in sports and wider society.

The pair wanted to create locker rooms where young players are taught respect, gender equality and emotional intelligence.

Industry

Education

WHY VR

LRT chose Meta for four reasons:

1. Quick and simple

Users learn at their leisure, no matter where or when. Coaches can access Meta's First Steps app to get comfortable with setup and controls.

2. More engaging

VR gives coaches an exciting way to reach out to young people and help change their thinking. According to LRT Operations Manager, Julia Frännek: "We can make coaches see things from another perspective."

3. Immersive experience

VR is closer to the real thing than pressing play on a video. Avatars express emotions to help improve emotional intelligence over time.

4. Pick up and go

Rather than lugging heavy equipment, Shanga can put a headset in his backpack or send them in packages all over the world.

Shanga Aziz,
Co-Founder,
Locker Room Talk

“

The option for coaches to jump into this VR environment, to continue and pause the programme, means that they can learn in a time and place that's convenient to them.

The solution

LRT developed Coach Journey, an emotional intelligence training course, specifically designed for coaches in youth leagues. The part theory and part virtual course was made with the help of developer and educational partners, legal experts, extended reality advisors and with funding from a Swedish State fund.

When coaches put on a headset they're welcomed to the fictional team LRT FC, a troubled squad made up of avatar players aged around 12. Users have to complete a series of challenges related to subjects such as gender equality and emotional intelligence to get the team back on track and restore the club's reputation.

The results

Eight virtual locker rooms offer different scenarios that coaches might experience with young players in real life. For instance, kids fighting or talking in a degrading manner. The situation is frozen and the coaches' decision about what to do next affects match results.

There are also two virtual press rooms for coaches to practice answering questions, designed using experiences shared by parents, journalists and leaders in sport.

Users receive feedback using a team chemistry meter and can track their progress in developing their emotional intelligence by comparing their results from baseline questions at the start of the program and an evaluation at the end.

THE RESULT

Take-up of LRT's VR training course has grown year on year

It was a particularly proud moment when the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf, tried the Coach Journey course when he visited the organisation in May 2022.

coaches have completed the programme

more coaches have started the programme

11,000

players reached by the programme