Equity-Minded Commentators: Calling the Game Without Bias

During coed team handball games, pairs of commentators record an audio play-by-play. They then analyze their own language with a bias checklist (adjectives, diminutives, who gets attention and what kind of praise) and rewrite a passage from an equity perspective.

How to play

1. Read two short excerpts from real sports coverage and discuss how the language differs when describing women and men athletes (4 min).
2. Form four coed teams of five and four commentator pairs, each with a tablet or phone to record audio (2 min).
3. First round of 7-minute games on two courts; each pair calls one game for 4 minutes (8 min).
4. Rotate: commentators join the games and four other students call the second 7-minute round (8 min).
5. Each pair listens to its recording and analyzes it with the checklist: who gets named most, which adjectives are used and whether praise targets skill or looks (8 min).
6. Rewrite a passage out loud using equitable language and share the most common biases (5 min).

Rules

• Recordings are only used in class and deleted at the end of the lesson.
• The analysis is about language, not about judging the commentators.
• Team handball with no hard contact: defend without grabbing or pushing, and shoot from outside the goal area.
• All teams must be coed and balanced in skill.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: the student commentates in both rounds and leads the pair's analysis.
• Hearing impairment: instead of recording audio, the pair writes a live report on the tablet and analyzes that.
• Autism: the student commentates with a script of sample phrases and analyzes with a checkbox sheet.

Learning goals

• Identify gender bias in sports language.
• Use equitable language to describe athletic performance.
• Value the performance of athletes of any gender equally.

Equipment for a class of 25

• balls: 2
• pinnies: 20
• tablets or phones: 4
• worksheets: 8

Teacher tip

Pick real press excerpts with obvious bias for the introduction. Ask permission before recording and make sure no one can be identified outside the classroom.

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