This Sunday at Henson Park the Sydney Swans AFLW team will play in the club's first home AFLW Pride Game.
Sydney has a proud history of Pride Game, with the AFL team having played Fremantle in the first ever AFL Pride Game in the pre-season of 2015 at Drummoyne Oval. The following year, the club joined St Kilda in playing an in-season Pride Game in Melbourne, then reciprocated hosting the match in 2017 – which marked the first Pride Game in Sydney for premiership points. Every year since then, Sydney and St Kilda have played in an annual Pride Game.
The AFLW team, who entered the competition last season, played Essendon in their first Pride Round in 2022. The league's official Pride Round will be celebrated next week, but with the Swans on the road in Perth for this fixture, they will have a two-week rainbow celebration, hosting the club's Pride Game at Henson Park this weekend.
Pride Game is a celebration of diversity with the key focus of the game inclusion- 'Everyone is Welcome at the footy'.
LGBTIQA+ Pride is one of the pillars of the club's Diversity Action Plan which was first launched in 2017 and a new DAP was launched in October 2022.
The first of its kind in the AFL, the DAP is a joint initiative of Sydney’s Board, staff, players and community leaders to formalise meaningful commitments in four key areas: disability empowerment, multicultural inclusion, the advancement of women, and LGBTIQA+ pride. It is a roadmap of commitments aimed at strengthening our club and our connection to community through genuine advocacy.
Through the DAP the club work with likeminded organisations who can offer guidance to help us maximise our impact, like Twenty10. Twenty10 are an organisation focused on delivering services for young LGBTIQA+ people, to support the Pride pillar of the club’s Diversity Action Plan.
In 2023, the club also marched for the sixth time in the Mardi Gras Parade after being the first professional sporting team to march in 2018. With the Swans AFLW team only formed last season, this year's Mardi Gras was the first time AFLW players joined in the Swans group marching.
The club launched its inaugural Pride Guernsey in 2021 and both the AFL and AFLW teams wear this guernsey for Pride matches.
HSBC is the official Pride Partner of the Sydney Swans.
The Rainbow Swans are the club’s official LGBTIQA+ supporter group.
Sydney Swans AFLW player Lisa Steane said the importance of Pride Round can't be understated and it's an opportunity for acceptance.
“Everybody can be proud of who they are, what gender they are, what they identify as and just feel accepted in the community they belong to," Steane said.
"It’s an honour to represent the queer community and being part of the community, it’s a special round to just be able to play and feel as though everyone is seen, heard and accepted no matter who they are."
Teammate Rebecca Privitelli echoed Steane's thoughts.
"Pride has always been a big part of my life and footy is the one place I have always felt truly accepted," Privitelli said.
"I can belong and be the complete version of me so it’s a really important round, I am really proud to play in it and that we have progressed to this stage.
"Pride has been part of the Swans for a really long time, the support that the club gives the rainbow community has been incredible. It’s a really important round, we are really excited and we are ready for a really good day at Henson Park."
There will be plenty of colour and entertainment to mark the occasion at Henson Park this Sunday with DJ Victoria Anthony on the decks, a roving hype crew and drag queen performance at half time. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir will perform pre-game and the fantastic Newtown Breakaways will be cooking up a storm on the BBQ. QBE will also be roaming and providing rainbow face paint as well as kids air tattoos and hair spray and the Rainbow Swans will also have a presence on the hill where rainbow scarves can be purchased.
Adult tickets are just $10, and juniors aged under 18 can attend for *FREE! *Juniors must redeem a $0 ticket from Ticketmaster for entry into the venue. PURCHASE HERE.
Match Day partner for the game is HSBC, the offical Pride Partner of the Sydney Swans. For further match day information including transport and parking. Visit the MATCH DAY HUB.
Match Details:
Sydney Swans v Collingwood - Round 9
Sunday, October 23, Henson Park
Gates open: 11.45am
First bounce: 1:05pm
