Comments on: Winning with tolerance | Sydney lesbian club shows Australia it is bats for football http://www.theglobalgame.com/blog/2007/08/surviving-in-tolerance-sydney-lesbian-club-shows-australia-they-are-bats-for-football/ Soccer as a second language Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:10:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Dan http://www.theglobalgame.com/blog/2007/08/surviving-in-tolerance-sydney-lesbian-club-shows-australia-they-are-bats-for-football/comment-page-1/#comment-21946 Dan Tue, 21 Aug 2007 01:59:47 +0000 http://www.theglobalgame.com/blog/?p=265#comment-21946 Hi Guido, The Flying Bats may be a lesbian club but we also play in a "mainstream" league with "mainstream" teams, many of whom also have gay players. You assume that all lesbians that play soccer play with us! Now wouldn't that be nice... :-D It's not about comfort, it's about choice. Rgds, Dan. Hi Guido,

The Flying Bats may be a lesbian club but we also play in a “mainstream” league with “mainstream” teams, many of whom also have gay players. You assume that all lesbians that play soccer play with us! Now wouldn’t that be nice… :-D

It’s not about comfort, it’s about choice.

Rgds, Dan.

]]> By: Guido http://www.theglobalgame.com/blog/2007/08/surviving-in-tolerance-sydney-lesbian-club-shows-australia-they-are-bats-for-football/comment-page-1/#comment-21018 Guido Thu, 09 Aug 2007 07:44:43 +0000 http://www.theglobalgame.com/blog/?p=265#comment-21018 Great article. Another example about Australian soccer being the most "representative" sport of Australian society. Other codes such as Rugby League and Australian Rules football do have people which are of non-English-speaking backgrounds, but their exposure to international competitions is small or in the case of Australian Rules nonexistent. The other team that represents Australia overseas, the cricket team, remains resolutely Anglo. If you look at the names of the players in the national soccer team you will get a great mix of Italian, Greek, Croatian and German names—a much more true reflection of Australian society. There haven't been many Asian Australians coming through, but there have been some African Australians making some impression. Regarding gay players I hope that some day they will feel comfortable enough to proclaim their sexuality openly in teams that are "mainstream" rather than solely gay. Great article. Another example about Australian soccer being the most “representative” sport of Australian society.

Other codes such as Rugby League and Australian Rules football do have people which are of non-English-speaking backgrounds, but their exposure to international competitions is small or in the case of Australian Rules nonexistent.

The other team that represents Australia overseas, the cricket team, remains resolutely Anglo.

If you look at the names of the players in the national soccer team you will get a great mix of Italian, Greek, Croatian and German names—a much more true reflection of Australian society. There haven’t been many Asian Australians coming through, but there have been some African Australians making some impression.

Regarding gay players I hope that some day they will feel comfortable enough to proclaim their sexuality openly in teams that are “mainstream” rather than solely gay.

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