ONE FOR THE TEAM
Jason Ball.
My name is Jason Ball. I play Australian Rules football for the small country team of Yarra Glen in Victoria. In September 2012, I came out publicly, becoming the first Aussie Rules player at any level to do so. At the time I had no idea that it would make the splash it did. AFL [Australian Football League] is the national game and, in the absence of an elite-level player coming out in a male-dominated team sport, my story captured the public and the media’s attention. This has placed me in a unique position. Over the past year, my experience has provided an insight into what it could be like, albeit on another scale, if an elite-level AFL player did come out.
My biggest fear was that my own teammates wouldn’t accept me. In the locker room, gay was a word commonly used to mean bad, weak or disgusting. Homophobic slurs seemed to be part of the game. I never heard my teammates say anything positive about homosexuality, which made me feel that if they found out, I wouldn’t be accepted. Maybe they’d bully me; maybe they’d refuse to play on the same team. Because of this fear I went to great lengths to hide who I was. I avoided conversations about relationships but if I was drawn into them I made up stories about girls. All my expectations of coming out ended with negative consequences.
When my teammates did figure it out, however, none of these fears were realised. My teammates couldn’t have cared less and a huge weight was lifted from my shoulders. There was no more rumour or innuendo, I didn’t have to hide and I’d never felt more part of that football club. Best of all, the homophobic language stopped. It became apparent to my teammates that those words were derogatory and they simply stopped using them.
This experience is mirrored in other examples of elite sportspeople coming out in a team environment. When American soccer player Robbie Rogers came out in 2013, the most heartwarming reactions, for me, were from his own teammates on Twitter:
Much love and respect to my boy @robbierogers! Proud to be your friend bro
Extremely proud of the courage from @robbierogers. Truth is not always easy to display, but truly strong people always find a way #RESPECT
@robbierogers Brave men like you will make it so that one day there’s no need for an announcement. That day can’t arrive soon enough. #Support
While AFL players don’t yet have a publicly gay teammate to support, they have not been silent when it comes to being seen and heard as straight allies. Carlton footballer Brock McLean was the first AFL player to become an ambassador for Athlete Ally, an organisation focused on ending homophobia and transphobia in sports by educating allies in the athletic community and empowering them to take a stand. Similarly, during International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO) some of the
biggest names in the AFL including Scott Pendlebury, Drew Petrie, Luke Ball and Jobe Watson took part in a social media campaign, making a pledge never to use homophobic language and raising awareness about the damaging impacts it has on the mental health and wellbeing of GLBTI youth.
If I were a closeted gay AFL player, I imagine that this show of support would go a long way to alleviating the apprehension I’d be feeling about how my own team would react. Elite footballers, unlike myself, play the sport as their career. It’s not just something they enjoy doing with their mates on the weekend. AFL players, I imagine, would want to avoid doing anything that could put them at a disadvantage. With the interest in such a story so strong, a football club could view someone coming out as an unnecessary administrative hassle. As this has not yet been tested, it’s hard to say what the impact could be on a player’s corporate sponsorship prospects or even his chances of being selected. The first player to come out will be stepping into the unknown. Or will they?
Looking at my experience, Yarra Glen has benefited from the extra attention. After the Victorian floods of 2011, our ground was inundated and the club struggled financially after losing most of the home games that season. However, after leading Victoria’s Gay Pride march flanked by my teammates in 2013, individuals and businesses within the gay community have shown great interest in our club. We have secured more memberships and more corporate sponsorship than ever before. AFL teams are always looking to grow their membership by reaching out to new demographics. The gay community could be an opportunity.
In a team sport like AFL, you seldom want to make anything all about you. I don’t want to detract from the courage of athletes like Matthew Mitcham, Daniel Kowalski or Casey Dellacqua, but these are individuals playing an individual sport. Team sports have a different dynamic. A team player doesn’t want to suck attention away from playing the game, especially if it could be the difference between winning and losing. Before I came out, I felt it was my duty to first talk it through with my team. I spoke to the coach, the club president, the committee, the captain. I didn’t want to politicise my club and I didn’t want to speak on behalf of anyone on the team if they weren’t comfortable with that. Without their blessing, I wouldn’t have come out.
To my surprise, however, they told me to go for it. They knew I was passionate about it, that I could handle it and that they would support me no matter what. I can’t say with confidence that an AFL player would have a similar reaction, but I would hope they might. Some AFL clubs would react better than others. For example, the Greater Western Sydney Giants made history in December by becoming the first AFL club to officially support gay marriage after they tweeted and issued a press release congratulating couples in the ACT who were married during the shortlived same-sex marriage rights law.
For any gay AFL player, there must be some trepidation that coming out would define them for the rest of their career as “the gay footballer”. I don’t think being gay defines me, but it’s a huge part of who I am and hiding it was mentally exhausting. When I’m interviewed on television the caption often reads “gay Aussie Rules player Jason Ball”. I grin and bear it. After all, the advocacy I’m doing is about something far greater than myself or how I’m labelled.
When I was 13 years old, struggling to come to terms with who I was in the blokey, macho, football environment, I wish I’d known such a thing: a gay footballer who could be out to
In the locker room, gay was a word commonly used to mean bad, weak or disgusting. [When I came out] the homophobic words stopped. My teammates simply stopped using them.
his teammates with no big deal. That would’ve made a world of difference to me. Since coming out, I’ve been receiving letters, emails and tweets from GLTBI youth, telling me that hearing my story has given them the courage to come out to their friends, parents and even their football team.
In a number of years, I imagine several openly gay AFL players will be competing. Eventually, it will just be part of the diversity of the game and no one will bat an eyelid. But the first player to do so is going to attract a lot of attention – attention that can be harnessed for good. If an amateur footballer like myself has been able to make positive a difference in a few lives, imagine the impact of an AFL player being open and proud about who they are.