NAB League Girls: Dandenong Stingrays players miss selection over underage drinking

Thirteen players from the Dandenong Stingrays NAB League girls under-18 team have been disciplined for underage drinking after a video appeared on social media.

The Dandenong Stingrays disciplined 13 players for underage drinking.

Thirteen players from the Dandenong Stingrays NAB League girls under-18 team have been disciplined for underage drinking.

Stingrays officials were alerted to images on social media of some of the players drinking alcohol at a party.

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After seeking advice from the AFL, the club made them unavailable for Saturday’s match against the Oakleigh Chargers at Shepley Oval.

Not all were in line for selection for the game. But all of the players were permitted to play for their local clubs on the weekend.

“We have a code of conduct which has a zero-tolerance policy in regards to drinking and we have a social media policy, and unfortunately a few of the girls didn’t live up to their end of the bargain and we decided not to select them this week,’’ Dandenong Stingrays region talent manager Darren Flanigan told Leader.

“It won’t make or break their careers but it’s a stance we take on underage drinking.

“They were at a party and they were drinking alcohol and they know it’s against our code of conduct and it also appeared on social media.

“We either have a code of conduct that we stand by and a standard that we accept, or we don’t. Our standard is, you don’t drink alcohol if you’re underage while you’re in the Stingrays program.’’

Flanigan said the players and their parents signed off on the code of conduct “and when they broke it they really left us with no alternative but to leave them out of the game’’.

He said the club became aware of the incident when a video of some of the players drinking appeared on Instagram.

Flanigan said the club, including coach Nick Rutley, decided to not select the girls for one NAB League match.

He said the Stingrays met the players and their parents last week to discuss the issue.

“The majority of the parents were fine with the decision and understood that the expectations we have of our playing group are very high,’’ Flanigan said.

“We’ve made it clear we don’t condone underage drinking and it may lead to a suspension. The fact that it appeared on social media is not good for our competition or the girls if they’re trying to be elite athletes.’’