Patrick is a founder of Cultural Pulse, a leading multicultural marketing and engagement agency that has worked for the past 15 years on sports participation and fan engagement programs for over 100 communities. He is an author and both of his books ‘The Big O, The Life & Times of Olsen Filipaina‘  and ‘Celestial Footy – The Story of Chinese Aussie Rules‘ have gone into reprint. As a storyteller, his stories on the intersection of sport, history and culture have been published by The Guardian Australia, The Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Daily Telegraph and The Australian Financial Review. He is passionate about celebrating the role of match officials in sport and is currently the proud coach of the Rockdale Raiders Under 6 Intermediate mixed football team.

Contact Patrick on twitter or LinkedIn

CR Journal Patrick Skene

Esprit sportif: Top 30 moments of respect from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Moments 1 to 10)

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. We start the series by looking at the Moments 1 to 10.
CR Journal Patrick Skene

Esprit sportif: Top 30 moments of respect from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Moments 11 to 20)

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. We continue the series by looking at the Moments 11 to 20.
CR Journal Patrick Skene

Esprit sportif: Top 30 moments of respect from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Moments 21 to 30)

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. We end the series by looking at the Moments 21 to 30.

Contributions

Sport at the crossroads Patrick Skene

Sport’s ugly blind spot – abuse of officials

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?
Global Resistance Patrick Skene & Ant Canavan

Global resistance to referee abuse: The Referee Forum (U.K.)

Our guest is the man behind 'The Referee Forum', the internet's biggest and best independent resource for referees. He's an ordained minister and his website's hashtags #AbuseUsLoseUs and #NoRefLeftBehind sum up his muscular global advocacy for match officials, which includes challenging online trolls. It's great to catch up with Ant Canavan who joins us from England.
Global Resistance Patrick Skene & Dr. Tom Webb

Global resistance to referee abuse: Dr. Tom Webb (U.K.)

"We seem to have moved towards this dichotomy where it's acceptable for players and coaches and managers to make errors during the course of the game, but it's not acceptable for officials. Why is that?"
Sport at the crossroads Patrick Skene

Sport at the crossroads: Football’s mountain to climb

When a player is ‘working the referee’ according to Hatzoglou, there are two key factors at play. In addition to inviting abuse of the referee from fans who believe they are backing their player, the referee is denied the authentic feedback loop to improve their performance.
Sport at the crossroads Patrick Skene

Sport at the crossroads: Rugby League’s cultural shift

Whether we want to believe it or not, so much of how we view the game is by someone telling us how we’re viewing it and seeing it. If the commentators switched to neutrality or positivity, then over a small period of time, people would naturally think positively or neutrally about refereeing.
Sport at the crossroads Patrick Skene

Sport at the crossroads: Aussie Rules’ (AFL) path to respect

For some, the lack of umpiring capability is the primary cause of abuse whilst for many, there is a ‘blame culture’ in which the players can make many mistakes in the game but umpires are not afforded the same luxury to make mistakes, learn and grow.
Sport at the crossroads Patrick Skene

Sport at the crossroads: Netball leading the way

The incident begged the question. How did a professional sport get to the stage where respect is so deeply and intrinsically embedded, that criticising an umpire is considered a shock that upends the sport?
Sport at the crossroads Patrick Skene

Sport at the crossroads: Rugby Union’s timeless tradition of respect for referees

A ‘Hooligans game’ it may appear to some, but despite its physicality and close-quarters gladiatorial combat, these ‘hooligans’ are incredibly respectful to referees. As a result, rugby union is played in a culture of respect for referees that is unmatched in contact sport throughout the world.
Sport at the crossroads Patrick Skene

Sport at the crossroads: Basketball’s battle against referee abuse

This is Part 6 of our ‘Sport at the crossroads’ series, exploring the way different sports codes and associations are tackling the abuse of officials. Part 1: Football (Soccer) Part 2: Rugby League Part…
Sport at the crossroads Patrick Skene

Sport at the crossroads: Cricket calling stumps on umpire abuse

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’.
Sport at the crossroads Patrick Skene

Sport at the crossroads: Softball’s culture of umpire respect

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.
CR Journal Patrick Skene

12 of the Best from the ‘Respect’ Olympics

Here are 12 examples of the Olympic Spirit in which respect was shown and the world brought closer through the power of sport. #StrongerTogether
CR Journal Patrick Skene

12 of the best ‘Respect Moments’ from the Paralympics

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympics continued the honourable spirit of the Olympics providing great moments of inspiration and the athletes, guides, coaches, officials, media and volunteers all lived and breathed the International Paralympic Committee values of Courage, Determination, Inspiration and…
Global Resistance Patrick Skene & Brenda Hilton

Global resistance to referee abuse: Officially Human (U.S.A.)

"I'm telling you it's real. I'm in this space. I've been in it for 22 years. It is a real problem. And I want everybody in this room to think about it and think about solutions."
CR Journal Patrick Skene

Respect Trumps Harmony: Lessons for Sport

Putting on a front that says: “We’re a big happy family and side by side we stick together” and all of that pressure to get along hides and creates a reluctance to confront mental health issues at an individual level and confront real problems at an organisational level.
CR Journal Patrick Skene & Cameron Tradell

A line in the sand for match officials: Q&A with Cameron Tradell (Part 1)

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.
CR Journal Patrick Skene & Cameron Tradell

A line in the sand for match officials: Q&A with Cameron Tradell (Part 2)

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.
CR Journal Patrick Skene

Esprit sportif: Top 30 moments of respect from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games (Moments 1 to 10)

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. We start the series by looking at the Moments 1 to 10.

Club Respect Framework

Club Respect helps grassroots sports clubs build and maintain a deep culture of respect. Respect is the best defence against abuse, violent attitudes and behaviours. Get this right at club level and people thrive, feel safe, and are able to enjoy the pleasures and opportunities that sport provides.

Framework: The Game Plan