Social media. It's a minefield, and on Sunday I walked into it wearing gumboots.
My comments on netball's response to Maria Folau re-posting her husband's controversial Instagram post about his GoFundMe page evoked a passionate response. So now I want to provide a more measured response in more than the few characters Twitter allows.
Maria Folau in action for the Thunderbirds.Credit:AAP
I suspect this will disappoint a few people on both sides of the argument, but here goes.
Firstly, my beef was not with Maria Folau. Of course she is welcome to play in Super Netball. In fact, I am rapt that she does. She is one of the most mesmerising, enigmatic and skilful goal attacks ever to play our game. To watch her sink long bomb after long bomb from the edge of the circle under all sorts of pressure is nothing short of amazing.
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I understand that my tweet was interpreted to mean specifically that Maria was not welcome. I get it. It was poorly worded from that point of view. I am devastated to think that the way I wrote it may have suggested the sort of bigotry that I passionately dislike. I don't want to fight bigotry with bigotry.
Having said all that, when Maria shared her husband's Instagram post announcing his GoFundMe page seeking donations to cover his legal fees, she invited response, and netball bosses had to act.
Rightly, netball had kept its head down in relation to the issue. While Maria made no comment, netball did not need to comment. I would like to think we are well past the time where a woman is held to account for things her husband says. Just because Maria is married to a man who publicly states things that cause huge controversy, and that many people (myself included) find abhorrent, doesn't mean that she has to answer for him.
Until, of course, she re-posted something that is clearly related to those views.
Which brings me to my real beef, and the people to whom my tweet was aimed: those running our sport. Specifically in this case, Super Netball and the Adelaide Thunderbirds. They must have understood that at some point netball would be dragged into this mess, and yet when it was, it took them more than 48 hours to respond. When they did, the response was insipid.
Legally they could not do anything to Maria other than publicly slap her on the wrist. I doubt her Instagram post went anywhere near breaching her contract. I suspect also that the Thunderbirds and Netball SA did not want to go hard on a player who has made a huge difference to their team on the court and is a willing and dedicated contributor to the sport off the court. They were in some pretty delicate territory.
Where their statement failed was in not taking Read More – Source
Social media. It's a minefield, and on Sunday I walked into it wearing gumboots.
My comments on netball's response to Maria Folau re-posting her husband's controversial Instagram post about his GoFundMe page evoked a passionate response. So now I want to provide a more measured response in more than the few characters Twitter allows.
Maria Folau in action for the Thunderbirds.Credit:AAP
I suspect this will disappoint a few people on both sides of the argument, but here goes.
Firstly, my beef was not with Maria Folau. Of course she is welcome to play in Super Netball. In fact, I am rapt that she does. She is one of the most mesmerising, enigmatic and skilful goal attacks ever to play our game. To watch her sink long bomb after long bomb from the edge of the circle under all sorts of pressure is nothing short of amazing.
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I understand that my tweet was interpreted to mean specifically that Maria was not welcome. I get it. It was poorly worded from that point of view. I am devastated to think that the way I wrote it may have suggested the sort of bigotry that I passionately dislike. I don't want to fight bigotry with bigotry.
Having said all that, when Maria shared her husband's Instagram post announcing his GoFundMe page seeking donations to cover his legal fees, she invited response, and netball bosses had to act.
Rightly, netball had kept its head down in relation to the issue. While Maria made no comment, netball did not need to comment. I would like to think we are well past the time where a woman is held to account for things her husband says. Just because Maria is married to a man who publicly states things that cause huge controversy, and that many people (myself included) find abhorrent, doesn't mean that she has to answer for him.
Until, of course, she re-posted something that is clearly related to those views.
Which brings me to my real beef, and the people to whom my tweet was aimed: those running our sport. Specifically in this case, Super Netball and the Adelaide Thunderbirds. They must have understood that at some point netball would be dragged into this mess, and yet when it was, it took them more than 48 hours to respond. When they did, the response was insipid.
Legally they could not do anything to Maria other than publicly slap her on the wrist. I doubt her Instagram post went anywhere near breaching her contract. I suspect also that the Thunderbirds and Netball SA did not want to go hard on a player who has made a huge difference to their team on the court and is a willing and dedicated contributor to the sport off the court. They were in some pretty delicate territory.
Where their statement failed was in not taking Read More – Source
