Kyneton Football Netball Club has finally issued a statement following a week of media attention on the club and its culture.
Late last year, the senior women’s football team defected from the club to form its own stand-alone club as the Kyneton Eagles Women’s Football Club.
Last week in the media, allegations were reported that the women had been subjected to inequitable treatment and disrespect.
KFNC had remained silent on the team’s departure until it responded with the following statement last week:
“We acknowledge the media reports about our club in the last week, and we would like to share some thoughts with our community.
We are horrified at the idea that women, gender diverse, or anyone else feels unsafe or unwelcome within our club. We have always tried to foster a safe and inclusive environment for everyone, including our players, members, supporters and volunteers.
Where issues have been raised with our committee, they have been dealt with in a timely manner. Our efforts were recognised by the AFL in 2021 when we were named The Most Inclusive Club in Victoria.
That said, there is always room for improvement. At KFNC our recent efforts to improve our community club include:
– Contacting women who have longstanding relationships with the club and asking them what we do well and where we can improve.
– Pursuing certification as an AFL Women’s Charter Club.
– Putting our women leaders forward for leadership programs and training.
We’d like to take this opportunity to highlight a few of our strengths. During the winter season we have around 1000 people of all ages and genders participating in sport in some capacity, every weekend. Fifty per cent of our committee of management are women.
Women have held the offices of president, vice-president and secretary within the last six years. Half of our club players are women and girls who play netball. We pioneered women’s football in the Macedon Ranges 10 years ago and our support for the women’s game continues through our junior and youth girl’s teams. We’re not perfect, but we’re on the way.
This month, we’re:
– Partnering with Generous to fundraise for the Kyneton Community House.
– Donating excess stock to the foodbank.
– Sending jumpers to an Indigenous community.
Over the last month we’ve been subjected to a barrage of negative reporting. We have been called “disgusting” in correspondence. Our women volunteers have been called “lackeys” in Facebook comments.
At our core, we’re a group of volunteers donating our time to provide sports programs for our kids and friends. We are doing our best.
We ask everyone in our community to think about whether you are contributing to making our community safer and more inclusive through your actions and comments.
There’s one thing we all have in common: a love of community sport.
We can all take positive steps from here for the benefit of our community,” the statement concluded.
