Club Respect

We've compiled the top 30 respect, leadership, and 'esprit sportif' (sportsmanship) moments from the 2024 Olympics Games that brought the world closer through the power of sport. In Part 1 of this series, we look at the Moments 1 to 10

In this episode, we speak with Sophie Arnold about how tribunals play out in local leagues - the heartland of community sport.

The Yarra Junior Football League (YJFL) and Club Respect are proud to announce a partnership to deliver workshops to all 32 YJFL member clubs.

Club Respect was on the road this month, participating in the True Sport conference at Optus Stadium in Perth. 

I genuinely see sport as its own ecosystem with regard to leading society. It's like a hotbed or a heightened example of where human interaction gets put to the test, where you've got people ‘passionate’, about their sport, under fatigue and under pressure. All in a short timeframe, with the expectation or pressure to win. There is a really good window in sport to show how we should act in wider society.

So when I say a 'line in the sand moment', it means everything we do from now on as we move forward will be using this modern approach. It includes a multifaceted approach to 'let's not blame the victims’ and let's start to look at how we support people by placing things around them and pulling on the levers that currently exist.

Sporting clubs and associations have many ways to contribute to reconciliation efforts, by challenging the norms we’ve previously accepted in our sporting environments and taking action towards change. By encouraging community sports clubs to transition from being mere allies to becoming active accomplices, we can collectively contribute to a more inclusive and equitable sporting culture.

A question I've been asking myself recently is: who is ultimately responsible for removing a person who relentlessly abuses from the sidelines week-in, week-out?

However, a significant concern for him is the shortage of high-level umpires, particularly those transitioning from playing to umpiring. “You don't get enough players finishing playing and then coming and umpiring. It's hard to draw them in,” he notes, highlighting a gap that affects the quality and availability of experienced umpires.

Whilst umpiring in cricket at the international level is now a high-tech dance of ball tracking technology and player challenges influencing the outcome of decisions, at grassroots level, umpiring the game has remained essentially the same for centuries, with the captains crucial to maintaining the ‘the spirit of the game’ and a code of conduct governing player behaviour that crosses ‘the line’.