A Community of Saints 2018 Community Perspective 2018 | Page 11

Australian Sign Language (Auslan) Jewish Schools Cup and Unity Cup
The club’s work with Australian Sign Language (Auslan) seeks to promote
awareness and support for the deaf and hard of hearing community, as well as an
understanding of how best to include this community both online and in person. For the third year running, the Saints hosted the Jewish Schools Cup in
conjunction with AFL Victoria at Linen House Centre in Seaford. Jewish schools
from around the state entered both female and male teams to participate in a
round-robin tournament to celebrate the game in the Jewish community.
In 2018, all Saints staff and players were invited to participate in a six-week
Auslan professional development course to encourage learning and development
within the club. The course was a resounding success, and covered areas
including deaf culture and awareness, question signs, alphabet and numbers,
instructions and other key areas of interest.
The Unity Cup is a community event run by AFL Victoria and the Australian
Federal Police, which the Saints support through sponsoring a team called
‘The Jew Crew’. The event focuses on increasing participation in community
football amongst those from multicultural backgrounds, while strengthening
ties between police and culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
In 2017, we were the first club to have an Auslan presenter
accompany the game-day MC on-field, and captions on the
screen for all video content and live interviews. We’re proud to
say that we have committed to continuing initiatives like this,
making our club even more inclusive.”
JACK NEWNES
Player #16, St Kilda Football Club
11