Call for Applications to Join AASP Affinity Groups

See Answers to FAQs

Apply to Join an AASP Affinity Group

The Advocacy Committee is accepting applications for membership in affinity groups. The affinity group initiative was developed to intentionally create space for members with shared identities and roles to build community and articulate, promote, and support their experiences, needs, commitments, and/or responsibilities, especially those related to equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging.

AASP is positioned to provide continued leadership and support to members in their own healing and action to end oppression. We feel that gathering in spaces around shared identities and roles allows members to engage in conversation while providing mutual support that empowers individual and collective progress.

There are four current affinity groups:

Black Professionals in Sport and Performance Psychology

Celebrating Black Brilliance

Co-Facilitators: Brittany Collins & Aaron Goodson

Our Vision: We envision a profession that supports, cultivates, celebrates, and recognizes the existence, history, imprint, and future of Black people in the sport, exercise, and performance psychology profession.

About Us: Black Sport Professionals in Sport and Performance Psychology is an AASP affinity group for diverse Black professionals and students in sport and performance psychology. This affinity group seeks to create an open, enriching, and liberatory space seeding Black brilliance and celebration by maintaining community between conferences in addition to an annual meeting at the AASP conference. This group will establish a space that meets the needs of our Black-identifying members through love, support, and education around the diverse experiences of Black professionals, athletes, and all those within the sport community committed to this cause. The group's primary goals are to be a voice and support system for all members by sharing advice, experiences, and resources related to the Black experience in SPP and navigating the profession.

Objectives:

• Cultivate a community of growth, care, and respect.
• Establish a network for mentorship and development for AASP’s Black members.
• Build a community of support and advocacy for AASP’s Black members’ needs and experiences.

El Sazón Latinx (ESL): A Hispanic/Latinx Sport Professionals Connection Group 

Apoyo mutuo. Éxito colectivo. / Mutual support. Collective success. 

Co-Facilitators: Frances Cardenas, Carlos Coto, and Matthew Galvez

Nuestra Visión / Our Vision: We envision an empowered Hispanic/Latinx community that speaks up, is heard, and champions the Hispanic/Latinx perspective with the goal of elevating mental performance and fostering inclusivity. 

¿Quiénes Somos? / Who Are We?: “El Sazón Latinx (ESL)” is a Hispanic/Latinx sport professionals connection and affinity aroup, where AASP members with a Hispanic/Latinx American background can safely gather and celebrate the “sazón” of our culture. This group strives to build a sense of community within Hispanic/Latinx professionals and students in sport and performance psychology, to openly and safely engage in conversations around identity, to share resources as it pertains to this population, and to further elevate the group through continued education opportunities.  

Objetivos / Objectives:

• Create a supportive environment where Hispanic/Latinx individuals feel a sense of belonging and community.
• Enhance career growth and development opportunities for AASP’s Hispanic/Latinx community.
• Empower Hispanic/Latinx voices to ensure they are represented and considered in decision-making processes.
• Discuss best practices in support of the Hispanic/Latinx athletic population.
• Share tools to best approach the unique challenges Hispanic/Latinx practitioners face in the sport context.
• Celebrate and Preserve Cultural Heritage.
• Strengthen relationships with other affinity groups and organizations to support mutual goals.

¡Únete a nosotros! / Join us!  
“El Sazón Latinx (ESL)” is open to all current Hispanic/Latinx-identifying members of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology.

Jewish Students and Professionals in Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology (J-SEPP)

Co-Facilitators: Jamie Shapiro and Carrie Scherzer

Our Vision: We envision this group as a space for Jewish students and professionals within AASP to explore how their Jewish identities might intersect with their professional work, exchange ideas and resources, discuss experiences as students and professionals, and provide support to one another.

About Us: J-SEPP is an affinity group for anyone who identifies as Jewish – either culturally, religiously, or both. With antisemitism skyrocketing globally, many Jews have expressed that they do not feel comfortable or safe expressing aspects of their Jewish identities in public or in academic/professional environments (Anti-Defamation League). J-SEPP will be a community where Jewish SEPP students and professionals can connect with other Jewish AASP members, share pride in Jewish identities, support each other, share resources, and collaborate on projects.

Join Us!
J-SEPP is open to any AASP member who identifies as Jewish. 

Students Engaged in Social Justice Activism and Research (SESJAR)

Co-Facilitators: Courtney Murtha and Nikoleta Karademitrou

Our Vision: We strive to foster a space to create, support, connect, reflect, progress, engage in self-care, and make an impact in research, academia, the classroom, applied settings, and one another.

About Us: Students Engaged in Social Justice Activism and Research was born out of AASP student members desiring a space to brainstorm and collaborate on intersectional social justice activism. This affinity group will host a supportive space for students from various disciplines, backgrounds, understandings, and aspirations. 

Objectives:

• Create a community that fosters support, collaboration, and friendship.
• Provide an educational space that allows us to learn and refine our skills.
• Give and receive feedback on initiatives and potential hurdles.
• Address the emotional toll of social justice research and activism.
• Provide empowerment for one another and engage in self-care.
• Collaboratively engage in advocacy efforts and bring ideas to the AASP community.

We hope to provide a safe space for students to build community, influence AASP with their ideas, grow and refine their skills, hold space to process, and bring in professionals, panelists, and mentors for student activists. Additionally, we will aim to address intersectional disparities, issues, and concepts across the “isms” as they relate to sport psychology, kinesiology, and physical education contexts to push these fields towards true inclusivity and safety for all members. 

Join Us!
SESJAR is open to any undergraduate or graduate students who are interested or are engaging in research related to DEIBJ or social justice. SESJAR is also open to any students who identify as social justice activists.

Applications for all Affinity Groups are due November 15, 2024 by midnight (PST).

Interested AASP members should upload their CV/resume and a brief statement of interest (<500 words) to the Google form at this link. This statement of interest should include how the applicant relates to the core identities and/or interests of the affinity group they wish to join. Applicants must be current members of AASP.

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FAQs for the Affinity Group Initiative

What is the objective of affinity groups (AGs)?
AGs will engage AASP members in personal work and provide a socio-emotional and professional space for members to process and grow with others within one’s cultural/social group(s) and role(s).  

What are possible examples of affinity groups? 
AGs provide an environment for members of cultural/social groups with specific roles to work with others who possess the same core identities, roles and/or commitments. Core identities are self-claimed social identities that are a part of a person’s sense of self. Examples of core identities include sex, gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, nationality, ability, and religion. Roles that we inhabit may also be part of our sense of self. They may be personal (e.g., mother) or professional (e.g., college sport psychologist).

Neither our identities nor our roles are experienced in isolation. Consequently, a group may gather around a single identity, or a group may share multiple core identities and roles. Applications most aligned with diversity, inclusion, advocacy and membership needs may take precedence in being accepted over others. In accordance with values of inclusion, AGs will be developed by members rather than the organization naming or pre-determining AGs.

Who is eligible to create an affinity group or become and affinity group facilitator?
AGs may be formed by any AASP member (including students) by submitting an application and completing the AG Facilitator Training. Applications to form new AGs are due in May of each year, and the facilitator training is held in August.

When will affinity groups begin to meet and how often?
Once AG Facilitators have completed the offered training, new and established AGs will begin recruitment in the fall. Each individual AG will collectively determine when and how often to meet. Applications to join an established AG are due in May and November of each year.