Heads of WA sporting codes to meet to address violence after shocking violent brawls at junior Perth games

A crisis meeting has been called between top Government Ministers and the heads of junior sporting organisations to try and stem the frightening rise in sideline violence at children’s sport. Executives from WA sporting codes — including football, basketball, rugby and even surfing — will meet with the State’s Minister for Sport and Minister for Family Violence on Wednesday after shocking fights erupted at junior games in Perth over the last fortnight. Just days after dozens of spectators were filmed in a vicious brawl at junior girls’ AFL game on July 26, parents had to be pulled apart after fighting at an Under-9s soccer match. Sports Minister David Templeman said he was both stunned and disappointed by the conduct, and called for parents to set a better example for children. Mr Templeman organised Wednesday’s meeting and will attend with Family and Domestic Violence Minister Sabine Winton to address the role sporting codes can play in reducing community violence. “This is about parents,” Mr Templmen said. “They need to understand the implications of poor behaviour. Their kids see appalling behaviour modelled. “It also has the potential to put people off having their kids involved in junior sport and that is the last thing we want.” Mr Templeman is expected to ask clubs how many reports of violence they receive each year to better understand the scope of the issue. “Prevalence of violence within codes is a key question I’ll be putting to the forum I’ve called for next week,” he told The West. The West Australian Football Commission has handed out out fines, a good behaviour bond and a loss of their sportsmanship points in regard to the July 26 junior girls’ match between Mount Lawley and High Wycombe. The individuals directly involved have been suspended. WAFC CEO Michael Roberts said, “there is no place in our game for violent behaviour,” and revealed that “penalties linked to poor on-field and off-field behaviour this year have resulted in 26 teams placed on good-behaviour bonds, while 33 team officials and spectators have received suspensions due to breaches of the WAFC conduct”. Football West also confirmed it had launched a probe into the soccer brawl at a Floreat Athena and Stirling Lions match on Sunday, July 28 at Britannia Reserve, and has condemned the “unacceptable” conduct. “Any parties, including coaches, parents and other spectators, found to have breached the Code of Conduct and/or Spectator Code of Behaviour will face sanctions including a possible ban from all Football West matches,” a spokesman said. In a statement, the Floreat Athena football club board said it had a zero-tolerance policy to violence. After the fight at the Stirling game, the board urged spectators to reign in their behaviour. The club is now working with Football West and local police, gathering statements from witnesses. The board has also declared that all members and supporters involved in the incident will face an indefinite suspension until the investigations are complete. So far, WA Police haven’t charged anyone over the incidents. Perth parenting expert Claire Orange said as family budgets were increasingly stretched and sporting fees rise, often children are reduced to playing a single sport which added pressure on their performance. “There’s a lot of financial pressure if you put your kid in sport. You’ve got fees and you’ve got to uniform them up — there are much higher stakes than there used to be when you’d just rock up,” she said. “Then there’s social media. All of the results are going on socials. It’s very high pressure. “It’s increasingly common that parents are making sport something that children have to win, as opposed to the life skills they’re supposed to be learning from it. It’s exceptionally damaging.” Ms Orange said the behaviour parents exhibit can have life-long impacts on a child emotionally but also can encourage them to act out when they don’t get their way in the future. She also urged the roundtable to form a working group on the issue as a tangible outcome rather than it being a talkfest and recommended clubs to create and distribute parents code-of-conducts at the grassroots level. WAFC and Football West are among those invited to Wednesday’s meeting, alongside rugby, golf, swimming, tennis and basketball among others.