1 The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in the Journal of Sport and Social Issues by Sage Publications Ltd, All rights reserved. It is available at http://jss.sagepub.com/ Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 2014, 38(4): 346-365 A fair game for all? How community sports clubs in Australia deal with diversity Ramón Spaaij, Karen Farquharson, Ruth Jeanes, Jonathan Magee, Dean Lusher & Sean Gorman Abstract Diversity and equality are key issues confronting sport. This paper draws on findings from qualitative research carried out in Australia to critically examine how diversity is understood and valued in community sport. The findings suggest that there is a discrepancy between the policy objectives of government and sport organizations and the way in which diversity is understood and responded to in practice. Diversity management is not being adopted widely among local sports clubs. The idea of a moral imperative to cater to people with diverse backgrounds and abilities is largely absent; rather, the dominant discourse is underpinned by a business rationale which interprets diversity in terms of benefits and costs to the organization. This business-driven approach is often detrimental to the social policy objective of ensuring equitable outcomes in sport. A fundamental reconsideration of the rationale and practice of managing diversity in sport is therefore necessary. Introduction Managing diversity is an important challenge for groups, organizations and communities. How diversity is dealt with at societal, institutional and local levels affects an individual’s opportunities and wellbeing. Sport is one area where diversity has become a policy buzz word. In countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands and Australia, social policy actors draw attention to sport as a policy tool that can be used to strengthen public values such as social inclusion (Donnelly & Coakley, 2002; Kelly, 2010; Spaaij, 2013a). Within this context, diversity can be seen to represent one of the most significant issues confronting sport today (Cunningham, 2011; Gasparini & Cometti, 2010). Sport provides an interesting case to study in terms of diversity management as there is a tension