Bayswater Football Club: Knox Council hands down penalties for strip show

A SUBURBAN Melbourne footy club that let junior players attend a function with strippers must choose one of two options as punishment: have two home games stripped or its senior players cough up two weeks’ match payments to charity.

Bayswater Football Club will be stripped of two home games unless senior players cough up two weeks’ match payments to charity as punishment.

A SUBURBAN football club that let junior players attend a function with strippers will be stripped of two home games unless senior players cough up two weeks’ match payments to charity as punishment.

Bayswater Football Club will have to choose one of the two options as part of a broader penalty handed down by Knox Council on Monday night after the club had a stripper perform at a footy function on May 19.

The club has faced a major backlash over the strip show, which was witnessed by some underage players.

BAYSWATER FOOTY JUNIORS ATTEND FUNCTION WITH STRIPPERS

A council report said senior players made the decision on the night to chip in money to hire a “female entertainer”, who performed in front of about 40 players, including some as young as 17 years old.

A large group of representatives from the club attended Monday night’s council meeting, where they learned of the penalties.

Club president Gary Galvin declined to comment after the meeting.

If the club opts for the suspension of two of its remaining home games this season it will have to reschedule and potentially miss out on gate takings. The alternative is for the entire senior team to forfeit two weeks of payments to be donated to charity.

As well as forcing the club to make that choice, the council has imposed a long list of demands, including that the club run a class to teach children about “the concepts of respect, equality, gender stereotypes and harmful definitions of masculinity”.

Other requirements include:

A FORMAL apology from the club president, committee members and senior captain at a council meeting

A GENDER equity audit undertaken by an independent expert

AN INTERNAL communications policy to promote principles of good governance, transparency and accountability

A SOCIAL media policy to ensure content is consistent with responsible consumption of alcohol and best practice in gender equality The council has also told the club to offer "mental health and wellbeing support to officials or players who may be emotionally affected in the aftermath of this issue”.

If the club fails to comply with the guidelines, it will be denied the use of Bayswater Oval for the 2019 season.

Councillors unanimously approved the measures at tonight’s meeting. Cr Nicole Seymour said the decision by players to hire a stripper was behaviour “reticent of the 1970s or 1960s”.

She said the penalties for the club was aimed at sending a message about respect for women.

“Some people will think the council is overstepping the mark or getting involved in social engineering but we’re not,” she said.

Cr Adam Gill said the club did a lot of good work for charities and the community and that “one event does not make the club”, however he stressed there needed to be punitive sanctions.

Ratepayers Victoria spokesman Frank Sullivan said the measures were unfair and over the top.

He said councillors were “big noting themselves” and “persecuting a great club”.

The measures come after a council report revealed the Eastern Football League suggested the club pay a $3500 fine out of player payments to a charity supporting family violence victims.

The club said in a statement to the council it “regretted the fact that underage children were present”, that it had altered its policy for future events to make them strictly over 18 and agreed to undertake training on the prevention of violence against women in partnership with the Eastern Domestic Violence Service.

It said all senior players recently bought an $80 pink jumper, with proceeds going to the Cancer Council’s Pink Ribbon initiative.