Some members of the Bermagui Breakers AFL club with club president Phil Summerfield. Photo: Marion Williams.
Bermagui Breakers will be the first Australian Rules Football club in the Sapphire Coast League to hold a Pride Cup round.
All members of the community are invited to attend the round on Saturday 14 June at Bermagui’s Dickinson Oval. The Bermagui Breakers and Bega-Tathra Kangaroos will face off in a special match dedicated to celebrating the LGBTIQ+ community.
The round aims to demonstrate the club’s commitment to creating an inclusive, safe and supportive space for players of all sexualities and genders.
Bermagui Breakers president Phil Summerfield said the round was all about being inclusive.
“We were the first club in the league to do the Indigenous round, and we want to be at the forefront of doing the right thing by everybody,” he said.
The club will be encouraging players to wear rainbow-themed apparel on the day, signalling to players of all ages that the club is welcoming of the LGBTIQ+ community.
All grades will be playing in the round – from Under 9s through to senior men and women.
The senior men and women’s teams will be wearing custom-made pride round guernseys. Juniors will participate through coloured tape, club house decorations, and other activities.
Sammy O’Connor is carried off the ground at Eden on 24 May after his 150th game for Bermagui Breakers. They are wearing their jerseys for the Indigenous round. Photo: Supplied.
Bermagui Breakers is proud to be a recipient of the Snow Foundation and the Pride Cup Community Fund, supporting its efforts to host a pride game.
The LGBTIQ+ community represents about 15 per cent of Australia’s population, almost 4.5 million people.
Pride games have become one of the fastest growing inclusion initiatives in Australian sport.
Pride Cup CEO Hayley Conway said she was thrilled to see Bermagui take a stand for inclusion.
“Sport has the power to bring people together and events like these create lasting change by ensuring LGBTIQ+ people feel safe, accepted, and proud in their clubs,” Ms Conway said.
Pride games foster a more inclusive sporting environment and generate economic benefits for local communities. Past events have attracted up to 1000 additional visitors who support local businesses, cafes, and accommodation providers.
By hosting a pride game, Bermagui Breakers is not only providing a welcoming environment for all players, officials and supporters, but is also helping to drive meaningful cultural change and promote equality in sport.
The AFL Sapphire Coast League includes clubs from Batemans Bay, Narooma, Bermagui, Bega-Tathra, Pambula and Eden.
“There are so many different diversities in our world and in our clubs and our towns, and we welcome everybody,” Mr Summerfield said. “A stranger is a friend you haven’t met before. It’s all about stepping out of your boundaries and stepping out and having a look and saying we’ve got a beautiful world and everybody is part of it.”
