DECEMBER NEWSLETTER 2021

Hello friends,

Partnerships are everything. The more we partner up, the greater the scope for connecting with clubs around the country. It’s great to join forces with people and organisations who share the cause – building positive culture and reducing violence and abuse. 

Taking a hands-on approach to the partnership, Spicers CEO, David Martin and HR Manager, Katherine Woodman actively promote the values of Club Respect and support the delivery of Club Respect workshops with the community sports clubs of their employees.

David Martin said “The entire Spicers team is proud to support Club Respect and we are all behind the objective to cease violence and abuse, in all its forms. We are an organisation built on respect and we have leaders across our business who truly live our values.” 

With the support of Spicers, Club Respect will be offering free club signage to sports clubs around Australia and delivering a podcast audio campaign due for release in 2022. 

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The quality writing of Patrick Skene for Club Respect has helped us all dig deeper into the devastating impact of referee and umpire abuse on sport in 2021. There's an unsettling certainty to the abuse a match official will receive - this fact should be considered unacceptable. But it isn't, yet, and for that reason Patrick's fight to have it recognised and prioritised continues. In this newsletter, we go global. Who are the Referee safety advocates around the world making a difference? 

Thank you Patrick for your contribution to this newsletter in 2021 and we look forward to your insights in 2022. 

Tarik Bayrakli
Manager, Club Respect

CR JOURNAL

Global resistance to referee abuse: The Referee Forum (U.K.)
Audio interview and transcript by Patrick Skene

"Ant Canavan 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".

CLUB RESOURCES

Spicers CEO, David Martin speaks on The Trap | Victorian Women's Trust

The Trap is a 10-episode harm prevention podcast by Club Respect's parent organisation, the Victorian Women's Trust, searching for answers on why domestic abuse persists, why people become abusive and what we can do to prevent it. 

The 10th and final episode of the series looks into the role of workplaces, public institutions and political systems in combating violence and abuse. David Martin speaks candidly of the challenges faced by executives and employees. An important first step, in the corporate world or a sports club, is to establish a 'willing coalition': 

"Building a group that are really going to be of like minds, let’s call it the willing coalition, to me is, is going to be a simpler road, being able to share how I’m emotionally and personally feeling about the situation than taking a position and wondering why people don’t feel exactly the same way. But if there’s no conviction behind accountability, then it just won’t work. It won’t work in business, but it also won’t work in building a culture."

CLUB RESPECT TOOLS

SMART STEPS for taking the heat out of a situation 

Every club has experienced tricky situations. Be it an abusive spectator, an off-colour remark from a player — we’ve all been there. Knowing how to look after yourself and others, while defusing the situation is key to maintaining a strong and respectful club culture. Check out our SMART STEPS tips for taking the heat out of a situation so everyone can get back to enjoying the game, safely and respectfully.​

We respectfully acknowledge the wisdom of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their custodianship of the lands and waterways.