Kicking Goals – What Happens Next? podcast on the culture of sport
Carland
Welcome to the final instalment of our topic on the culture of sport. Richmond Football Club CEO and executive director Brendon Gale has a distinctive perspective on the culture of sport. He played 224 AFL games for the club and was head of the AFL Players' Association. He talks to host Susan Carland about how the game's culture has changed, and the work AFL clubs like his are doing to adapt. We’ve also gathered the very best nuggets of wisdom from all our experts to help individuals take action and get involved.
About the Authors
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Susan carland
Director, Bachelor of Global Studies, and Lecturer, School of Language, Literature, Cultures and Linguistics
Susan's research and teaching specialties focus on gender, sociology, contemporary Australia, terrorism, and Islam in the modern world. Susan hosted the “Assumptions” series on ABC’s Radio National, and was named one of the 20 Most Influential Australian Female Voices in 2012 by The Age.
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Brendon gale
Chief Executive Officer, Richmond Football Club
Brendon was appointed as CEO of Richmond Football Club in August 2009, and as Executive Director in December 2015. Brendon practiced law with a leading Australian commercial law firm, King Wood Mallesons, prior to serving as CEO of the AFL Players Association. Brendon is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and served on the board of the Victorian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission from 2009 to 2013. He has also been an owner and director of several businesses in the hospitality and leisure sector. Brendon is a current non-executive director of ASX listed company, Home Consortium Limited. Brendon played 244 AFL games with the Club from 1990 to 2001 and was awarded Life Membership in 2000.
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Rana hussain
Broadcaster, Writer, Presenter, Diversity & Inclusion Consultant
Rana Hussain is a Diversity and Inclusion leader making important inroads into Australian sporting culture and the community at large. One of a handful of women of colour working in AFL (D&I for Richmond Football Club), Rana is a pioneer and a passionate advocate for social inclusion and reducing discrimination through the vehicle of sports and media. Rana’s desire to see more diversity in both media and sport sees her freelance writing, as well as podcasting and broadcasting for the ABC. Rana is a member of the Outer Sanctum podcast crew, a Board Member of the Victorian Women’s Trust, a consultant on the DoMore Project and a member of the Cricket Australia Steering Committee developing the next stage of their Diversity and Inclusion Action plan.
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Brett hutchins
Professor of Media and Communications, Monash University
Brett undertakes research, postgraduate supervision, and media commentary in sports media and communications; environmental media; mobile media and communications; news media and journalism; and media studies. His research investigates who wins, who loses, and how, during processes of media, technological and environmental change. Focusing on questions of social, economic and political power, these processes are explored though examinations of sports media, environmental media, and digital and mobile communications. His approach is based on a combination of critical analysis, accessible writing, and evidence drawn from industry and policy circles.
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Ruth jeanes
Professor, sport, physical activity and social exclusion, Faculty of Education, Monash University
Ruth is a Professor and Head of the School of Curriculum, Teaching and Inclusive Education within the Faculty of Education at Monash University. She is a sociologist and her research aims to address inequity and discrimination within sport, as well as examining the role of sport in addressing complex social and health issues. She is currently working on two ARC-funded research projects examining the role of informal sport in creating healthy and socially cohesive communities and a further project examining ongoing gender inequities within Australian sport. Ruth's research has attracted a range of external funding. She is lead investigator on a recently awarded ARC Linkage grant 'Informal sport as a health and social resources amongst diverse young people' ($250,000) with co-investigators Dr Justen O' Connor, Professor Dawn Penney and Professor Ramon Spaaij and in partnership with VicHealth, Centre for Multicultural Youth, Cricket Victoria and the Department of local governernment, sport and cultural industries. This study builds on a recently completed project also funded by the ARC Linkage scheme ($200,000) for a project 'Participation versus performance: Managing (dis) ability, gender and cultural diversity in Junior Sport'. The grant team was led by Professor Ramon Spaaij from Victoria University. Methodologically Ruth seeks to give voice to disempowered individuals and communities within her research by drawing on a range of participatory approaches developed from her PhD. Ruth's PhD thesis utilised feminist post-structuralism to examine the role of sport and specifically soccer in the construction of girls' gender identities and she has developed this area to research and continues to publish on how constructions of gender and sport can facilitate and constrain girls' involvement in sport. More recently, Ruth's research has examined the role of sport in assisting young homeless men to connect with support services, to support identity (re) construction amongst men experiencing mental illness, and the ways in which newly arrived and refugee committees use sport when settling in Australia. Ruth has an ongoing interest in examining the experiences of young people with disabilities in sport and leisure contexts. Internationally she has undertaken extensive research work in Zambia, examining the role of sport in HIV/AIDS education as a tool to empower young women and as means to foster hope and a sense of community amongst both men and women living in highly impoverished urban compounds. Ruth regularly conducts evaluations examining the impact of sport and social change initiatives for national and international agencies including UNICEF, the Football Foundation and Centre for Multicultural Youth. Ruth is President of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Leisure Studies and is a member of several journal editorial boards including the International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Sociology of Sport Journal, Managing Sport and Leisure and Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health. Research interests Sport and international development Social policy and sport Coaching and community development Gender, sport and physical education Research methodologies and young people Young people with disabilities, family and leisure
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Episode 37: A Level Playing Field?
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