After the success of the inaugural ABL Pride Night last season, the Lifeline Canberra Cavalry will bring back the event back to MIT Ballpark on 30 January.
The Cavalry have once again teamed up with LGBTQI+ business partner, Hathaway Real Estate to introduce more of the LGBTQI+ community to the sport, as well as helping break down barriers and stigmas surrounding elite sport and the community.
Pride Night will take place between the Calavry and the Sydney Blue Sox at 7pm Saturday 30 January, and club have engaged a number of local LGBTQI+ businesses and groups to take part in Night for the first time.
The architect of last season’s inaugural Pride Night, Cavalry GM, Sunny Singh, believes that the steps the Cavalry are taking are a crucial component to ensuring all individuals are made to feel welcome at sporting events.
“It’s important for us to emphasise that our gamedays and sport are open to absolutely everybody and is somewhere they can be comfortable being themselves,” said Singh.
“Whether it’s participating, watching, volunteering, an individual’s sexuality shouldn’t matter and we’ll keep plugging away at it year in year out until it doesn’t.
“We’re a community-based club, not only by name, but by nature”.
Last year’s Pride Night drew in the Cavalry’s biggest crowd of the season, as well as positive feedback from its wider fan and supporter base.
The Cavalry will also wear special jerseys in support of the community, with the jerseys then to be auctioned off to the general public.
The Cavalry are hoping to set an example for other ABL clubs to follow suit and help open up the sport to new fans within the community.
“Honestly, we were blown away by the support we received from the Canberra community last season,” Singh said.
“We’ve still got a long way to go, but to know that the LGBTQI+ community has such strong allies and the backing of our playing group and staff says plenty about the leaps and bounds we’ve made over the years”.
Hathaway Real Estate Director, Thomas Hathaway, says that after the success of the first Pride Night, it was a no-brainer to sponsor the night again.
“We’re proud to partner up with the Cavalry for Pride Night again and it’s a great reason to get the LGBQTI+ community out and about when they otherwise probably wouldn’t attend,” said Hathaway.
“The night represents and aligns with the vision of Hathaway Real Estate and we’d love to see it happen and continue to happen within the ABL as well as across different codes”.
Tickets for this week/weekend’s series are available via www.gocavsgo.com.au/tickets and are not for sale at the box office on gameday.
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