CR Journal

The outbreaks of violence against referees often sit at the tip of a pyramid of a dehumanisation process, in which an official is tarred with unchallenged labels that erode their authority. Once their integrity is undermined, it triggers an environment that encourages verbal or physical abuse.

What drives an otherwise upstanding sports fan to scream abuse at a match official? Or turn an otherwise loving parent into a seething, foaming, resentful ball of fury at an 11-year-old boy who has made a refereeing decision that did not favour their child?

For clubs wanting to draw ‘a line in the sand’ in their club culture and maintain an environment of respect, we now offer our signature Club Respect workshops. You can join the cohort of sports clubs, associations, leagues and local councils who are making significant cultural changes at their clubs that are creating safe, kind and fair environments.

Growing up in a small country town, I have always been involved in sports. I’ve found that most people in small towns join clubs because there aren’t many alternative ways to spend their weekends. By joining the club, people also feel connected to the community.

Respect is the key. It helps unlock your ability to understand the lived experiences of others around you, to sense and appreciate the pain that comes from being belittled and racially put-down. This has to be genuine effort. Being defensive and combative makes it hard to reach the understandings that matter.

2020 has challenged us in pretty much every way possible. Sporting clubs at all levels and pay grades have most definitely not been immune to this. But now, as the year rushes to its end, it’s worth looking back at everything that has happened and seeing what we can actually learn.

Kindness must exist in sport because sporting clubs are at the heart and soul of Australian communities. Sport has the ability to provide the perfectplatform to facilitate cultural change and our leaders at the forefront needto lead by example.

One of the biggest challenges clubs face in dealing with either of these matters is that everyone usually knows everyone. Then there is the gossip and social media that goes with the territory of people being nosey, taking sides or just weighing in generally because they can.

In the minds of many, doping and match-fixing continue today to be the most concerning areas of sports integrity that threaten Australian sport from grassroots to the elite. Each was considered in-depth in a comprehensive review of Australia’s sports integrity threat environment led by former NSW Supreme Court judge, Justice James Wood AO QC.

This year, sport and activism have been brought together on a scale that is unlike anything many of us have ever seen before. But what can we learn from this moment when it comes to our community clubs? Actually, quite a lot.