Inside a community sports tribunal
Smart Plays is Club Respect’s podcast that shines a light on uncomfortable topics in Australian sport and aims to rebuild respect as the base platform for interaction between fans, parents, coaches, players and officials.
In this episode, we speak with Sophie Arnold about how tribunals play out in local leagues – the heartland of community sport.
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Overview
Accountability in sports clubs. It’s an issue we’re focusing on more and more. Why? Because club committees and leaders are fed up with dealing with issues of poor sideline behaviour – week-in, week-out. Often, it’s abuse coming from the same person.
Most clubs are ill equipped to deal with the complaints and the confrontation, or threat of confrontation, and well, it’s hardly what anyone signed up for as an unpaid volunteer at their kids club.
While club’s are ultimately responsible for the behaviour of people at their club, sometimes the issues are just so far beyond what’s acceptable within their code of conduct.
The issues and complaints go higher up and get heard by a sports tribunal. Sometimes, the police are involved.
Well publicised league tribunals, like the AFL and NRL, have a certain theatre about them, with extensive video reviews from multiple angles. But I’m more curious about how it all plays out in the local leagues – the heartland of community sport.
Here to give us this insight is Sophie Arnold, a former journo for The Age, a veteran volunteer and Director at the Fitzroy Football Club and a tribunal member at the Yarra Junior Football League.
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