The Sydney Swans take on St Kilda this weekend for the annual pride round game celebrating the LGBTI+ community.
The annual fixture between the two clubs began in 2016 to celebrate diversity and inclusion and to ensure everyone feels welcome at the football.
After several years as hosts, the Swans will play the Round 17 fixture at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne with the Saints taking on hosting duties.
Scott Dalby, executive general manager of people and culture at Sydney Swans, said the pride round was a round that everyone in the club looked forward to each year.
“It’s right near the top of the tree as one of our favourite matches of the year and it’s a really great way to connect with our vibrant rainbow community that is so passionate about our club,” he said.
Dalby said that the Swans had a history with the LGBTI+ community that extends back to the eighties when the club first moved here.
“Sport wasn’t always seen as an inclusive or welcoming environment but AFL was relatively new to Sydney and many felt it was accessible to them as it didn’t have the hard edges that over sports had,” he said.
“It’s really grown from that to this super supportive community and of course that is personified by our Rainbow Swans.”
The Rainbow Swans are the official LGBTI+ supporter group of the Sydney Swans and have close to 1000 members on Facebook.
Ahead of this Saturday’s game, the Rainbow Swans have invited all members for a drink at the stadium before the game.
The pride round is just one initiative of the Sydney Swans, which launched a diversity action plan in 2022 as part of its commitment to the community.
“Key to that commitment is our partnership with Twenty10, who we were honoured to have with us at training this week,” said Dalby. Twenty10 is an LGBTIQA+ organisation based in Sydney that provides young people with housing, counselling, and social support across NSW.
Together with the charity, the Swans have created customised LGBTIQA+ training for all its players and staff.
Dalby said the next goal for the club was to try to make the pride round a broader AFL initiative.
“Ultimately the goal is for the pride round [is] to involve every club in the AFL. We have been very successful at getting that off the ground with the AFLW [AFL Women’s], so we would love to see it replicated,” he said.
Part of the success of the AFLW is due to the many proud lesbians who participate in the game and have been instrumental in getting it up and running.
There are no out-and-proud gay men playing at the elite level of the AFL at present.
“What we have focused on at the Swans is ensuring that all of our staff and players are aware of the support that we would provide if an athlete did choose to come out,” Dalby said.
“We’ve shown that with our women teams, which is really diverse, and through a number of our off-field staff [who] are members of the LGBTI+ community. This isn’t a process where we want to drive players out of the closet; we just want to create an environment where they know they will be supported.”
The Sydney Swans take on St Kilda this Sunday with first bounce at 3.20pm.
Gay Sydney News reporter