THE AFL is pleased to welcome the second NAB AFL Women's Competition official Pride Round, held from 21 – 23 January, in a celebration of diversity and inclusivity within the game and community.

The occasion was marked by the AFL's General Manager - Womens Football, Nicole Livingstone, who was joined by Jess Fitzgerald (Western Bulldogs) and Darcy Vescio (Carlton) at VU Whitten Oval, along with Executive General Manager - Inclusion and Social Policy, Tanya Hosch, with Stevie-Lee Thompson (Adelaide Crows) and Ailish Considine (Adelaide Crows) who joined at West Lakes Shore Oval in Adelaide to celebrate.

Ailish Considine (left) and Stevie-Lee Thompson showcase Adelaide's 2022 AFLW Pride guernsey. Picture: AFL Photos

General Manager - Womens Football, Nicole Livingstone, said recognising Pride Round as an official round in the competition provides the football community an opportunity to come together and celebrate the inclusivity of AFLW.

"We are proud to showcase AFLW Pride Round and give back to the community through awareness and recognition," Ms Livingstone said.

"Our players and fans have been celebrating Pride in sport for a long time, and we're thrilled to use the round to represent the diversity and acceptance we see in the modern AFLW game."

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AFL Executive General Manager for Inclusion and Social Policy, Tanya Hosch said Pride Round reflects the competition's commitment to being a sport for all, acknowledging we are working together with communities to make this more and more a reality with each season.

"This is the second year we have formally celebrated Pride Round across the women's competition. We are certain we would not be in a position to hold the round without the years of work done and still pursued by the trailblazers of our game to create inclusivity, visibility and awareness for the LGBTIQ+ communities," Ms Hosch said.

"The AFL is actively building our understanding of what it means to be inclusive in partnership with people across the spectrum of the code and with great generosity of players, officials, staff and fans. We are supported by many community leaders and by Pride in Sport, who are specifically designed to assist sporting organisations at all levels with the inclusion of employees, athletes, coaches, volunteers and spectators with diverse sexualities and genders."

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As part of the dedicated round, Field and Boundary Umpires will wear rainbow-coloured sweatbands, while Goal Umpires will exchange their traditional white flags for rainbow ones.

Once again the NAB AFLW competition logo will swap its iconic coral coloured emblem for a rainbow one, while all 50-metre arc ground markings will also be painted rainbow for the occasion.

Players will also show their support with thirteen AFLW Clubs wearing specially designed Pride Round guernseys to mark the round.

Sabrina Frederick (left) and Eloise Chaston pose in Collingwood's 2022 Pride Round guernsey. Picture: Collingwood FC

In addition, as part of the 2022 NAB AFLW Pride Round celebrations, the AFL is pleased to announce a partnership with the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV).

The partnership will see the AFL become a Supporter of the upcoming Queer exhibition which opens to the public from March 10 until August 21, 2022 at NGV International.

Spanning five gallery spaces and featuring more than 400 artworks, Queer is a landmark Australian-first exhibition that will explore the NGV Collection through a queer lens and celebrate the rich, diverse and untold stories that emerge throughout history.

Tony Ellwood AM, Director, NGV said, "The NGV is proud to be partnering with AFLW and AFL on Queer, a landmark exhibition that shines a light on the NGV Collection to examine and reveal queer stories.

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"The partnership is a significant milestone in the history of both organisations, and I commend the AFLW and AFL for this act of promoting diversity and inclusion and thank them for helping to bring these important stories to a wider public through their broad supporter bases," Mr Ellwood said.

For more information on the upcoming Queer exhibition visit Queer: Stories from the NGV Collection | NGV

The AFLW Pride Round is one of three dedicated rounds that will be celebrated across the 2022 NAB AFLW Competition, alongside AFLW Indigenous Round and Toyota Good For Footy Round.

For more information, fixture details and ticketing visit womens.afl or catch all the action on the Seven Network, Foxtel, Kayo and the AFL Official App.

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