By: EFL CEO Phil Murton
THE behaviour of everyone involved in football clubs is always on show, on and off the field.
As a sport you can’t have the good, without the bad. If we love the fact that participation numbers are high, and we draw big crowds to games, then we can’t complain when the level of scrutiny is high.
Behavioural standards at footy clubs, as in the general community, have evolved significantly over recent years. There is an expectation, that has been fully embraced by clubs, that they look after the whole person and not just the player. It’s why many clubs run education sessions on a range of topics at their club and introduce leadership programs that deal with more than just playing the game.
You only need to talk to police to hear about the kids involved in the juvenile justice system, and the overwhelming statistic that shows how few of these kids have been involved in any regular involvement in team sport. As the saying goes, “Play sport, stay out of court”.
One of our clubs recently found itself in the media as a result of a stupid decision by some players, but despite what some people may have you believe, footy/netball clubs overwhelmingly make a positive contribution to their local communities. We know the ledger leans firmly to the side of clubs being a positive place for young men, and increasingly women, to be.
As an example, on the same night the club incident was being reported, Knox Football Club was hosting the first of four “Outside the Locker Room” sessions, a program designed to help young people deal with mental health issues they face in their lives.
Up Canterbury Road at Montrose, their under-14 and 15 boys were going through a session titled “Time to Man Up”, which looks at what it means to be a man, what qualities define a man, the importance of language and acting responsibly.
More recently, East Ringwood juniors have a team all learning sign language to help communicate better with a teammate who is deaf.
PICTURE: Leader Newspapers/Stuart Milligan
These are the kind of activities that are being held regularly in not only EFL clubs but clubs right across Victoria.
The EFL has been at the forefront in supporting and growing this work being done in clubs. We’ve worked closely with David Burt, the founder of respected club education provider Sport & Life Training (SALT) to help increase education in clubs and for the last five years we’ve part funded sessions in clubs.
We believe for it to work, clubs need some skin in the game. Starting with EFL clubs and the Eastern Ranges, SALT now runs over 500 sessions each year in over 90 clubs from 22 different leagues, including working with Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs’ next generation academies.
In the last three years, SALT has delivered 275 sessions in EFL clubs, on topics such as drugs and alcohol, wellbeing and mental health, healthy masculinity, leadership, female empowerment and gender equity.
As our clubs have grown with both netball and girls/women’s footy, we’re having to challenge stereotypes and language that was once accepted. But as a result, clubs are becoming better places and building on their capacity to become real hubs of their community for everyone.
A fortnight ago, in conjunction with the Women of the EFL, Eastern Health and AFL Yarra Ranges, we helped run a dinner forum on Women Leading Change. In what was a terrific night with a capacity 180 people in attendance, we heard stories from female leaders in sport, business and politics.
It was a follow up to the Be The Change Forum we ran last year that looked at how clubs can become more inclusive, at a time where participation of females in our competition has grown from less than 1%, to almost 20% in just five years.
With such rapid change, we know it won’t be perfect but the proof is in the pudding on the benefits a more inclusive club can bring, and those clubs committed to this will become the club of choice for players, supporters and sponsors.
A LaTrobe University study showed that for every $1 invested into community football clubs, there was a $4.40 return in social value to society, which included social connectedness, wellbeing, mental health status, employment and personal development. As a father of three young boys, I know sporting clubs are a terrific place for them to learn not only sporting skills, but life skills.
We will all make mistakes from time to time and need to ensure we learn from these. But overwhelmingly sporting clubs demonstrate they are great community places for young men and women to learn and grow.