Port District senior women to host Pride Round in AdFL round eight

One of the Adelaide Footy League’s top clubs will host a senior women’s Pride Round this weekend in hopes of celebrating and promoting diversity at the community level.

A top Adelaide Footy League club will celebrate its own Pride Round at the senior women’s level this Saturday.

Port District’s division three women’s team, which currently sits on top of the ladder after seven games, will host the special round during its clash with Scotch OC at Largs Reserve.

Spearheaded by club captain Sinead Saunders, the team has designed and created its own guernsey to mark the occasion.

Assistant coach Billie Jo Nicholls said the round had been a year in the making for the club.

“It was really player driven,” she said.

Mark Moody (coach), Jasmin White, Sinead Saunders, Laura Morris and Billie Jo Nicholls ahead of Port District's Pride Round this Saturday. Picture: Kym Stegmeyer

“The girls have a really close and diverse unit and Sinead pitched the idea to us last year flagged that for us that it would be a great thing to celebrate.

“The whole process since then has been led by the team and also a collaborative effort with the club and coaches.

“This is only the second year for the senior women’s team – it has brought a new dynamic for the club and the club has been really supportive of us and of this particular round.”

While Port District is not the first club to host a Pride Round this season, with other clubs such as Woodville South holding a Pride Round as recently as last week, Nicholls said the team felt it was important to celebrate its own diversity and the diversity of local SA footy.

Port District hopes to promote and celebrate diversity with its Pride Round guernsey. Picture: Kym Stegmeyer

She said the round would also offer a chance to promote awareness and education.

“It’s about promoting diversity – what the girls have wanted to do is promote and celebrate what a diverse team they are and diversity within the sport.

“When designing the guernsey, we went through what the pride flag represents and what each colour meant.

“It’s a very colourful and bold guernsey and it’s about putting that pride flag at the forefront.

“I think this is a really good opportunity to continue special rounds like this – footy is such a great platform for awareness and education and local clubs do it really, really well.”

The club’s game against Scotch OC will kick-off from 12.15pm on Saturday.