By Peter Douglas
THE AFL Pride Match between St Kilda and Sydney this Saturday night marks a high point in an incredible journey for Yarra Glen footballer Jason Ball.
Ball, who was the first Australian Rules player at any level to come out as gay, has received enormous support from his club, which has now hosted three Pride Cups in the AFL Yarra Ranges league.
Over the weekend, the concept of a Pride-themed football match reached a wider audience than ever before, with the aim of celebrating the AFL community’s LGBTI fans, players and staff.
Ball said to the AFL’s credit, they had ensured the Yarra Glen football club had been included in promotion of the Round 21 match.
Yarra Glen Football Club players formed a guard of honour for the AFL players.
The club’s coach, Dean de Munk, has attended a St Kilda training session this week, as well as speaking with players, coaches and staff about the importance of the event.
Ball, too, featured on the front cover of the round’s AFL Record, as well as tossing the coin before the match.
“It’s an exciting time, so much work has gone into this and it’s great to see it happen on an AFL stage,” he said.
Ball said he couldn’t be more pleased with the AFL’s promotion of the event.
This had included St Kilda player Sam Gilbert taking on a spokesperson role, as well as coverage of the story of Saints’ legend Nicky Winmar and his gay son, Tynan.
Winmar is known as much for his football deeds as for his stance on racism, which Ball said resonated with AFL fans.
“It’s a great story, this is what we need, for the legends of the game to come out in support of the Pride match,” he said.
Meanwhile, Ball, who is now 12 months down the track after a knee reconstruction, said it was likely he won’t return for this year’s finals series.
Despite the club sitting on top of the ladder, and being a strong premiership chance, he said he didn’t want to risk further injury.
However, he expected he may return next season.
“I think my dad and the coach would say I still have plenty of good years of footy left in me,” he said.
“My rehabilitation hasn’t been what you’d call professional, so I don’t think it’d do me any good to come back too early.”
