Confirmation of the GIANTS’ round two match against the Crows on Sunday means the club will also get the opportunity to take part in the inaugural AFLW Pride Round.
With individual clubs executing their own initiatives in the past, the inaugural competition-wide Pride Round has provided an opportunity for every club and every player in the competition to celebrate the inclusiveness of football.
The GIANTS will proudly wear a Pride tee during their warm-up on Sunday.
Leadership Group member Jessica Dal Pos was a key leader in the development of the design.
“The opportunity to be involved came up and I jumped at it,” said Dal Pos.
“Our involvement in this round, both as a league and club, is a clear position on inclusivity in football and the workplace and it shows that our LGBTQIA+ community are seen and valued.”
Dal Pos worked closely with the club’s design and merchandise teams to create the Pride tee that the players and staff will proudly wear on Sunday.
“The playing group sent through some words and sentiments regarding what pride and inclusivity means to them,” she said.
“The fingerprint-type design within the ‘G’ touches on the idea that everybody has a fingerprint however, each person's is unique to them.
“So, for the GIANTS group it's about being able to be free, to be yourself, whilst being attached to a strong, welcoming and diverse community.”
When asked what she would like this round to grow into, Dal Pos said:
“I would love for our club and the AFL to have representation in the Mardi Gras Parade and for inclusivity to be the number one priority in every football club, so we don’t’ have to keep having these conversations.
“Women's football and AFLW is a place that many different and interesting women, non-binary people and men have flourished, but there is so much more work to do in mainstream media and the broader football community.
“There is no room for discrimination of any sort in AFL or the sporting arena.”
Other initiatives across the round include all umpires donning rainbow-coloured sweatbands, while goal umpires will exchange their traditional white flags for rainbow ones.
In addition, the official NAB AFLW competition logo will swap its iconic coral coloured emblem for a rainbow one in celebration of the round, while all 50-metre arc ground markings will also be painted rainbow for the occasion.
