By RUSSELL BENNETT
ONE punch is all it could take to kill somebody.
It’s a message that is starting to sink in at sporting clubs right around Australia, but one that still needs to be emphasised.
Tomorrow (Saturday, 27 June), the Bunyip Football and Netball Club will be supporting ‘Step Back. THINK’ to raise awareness and help drive a cultural change that ends the scourge of social violence.
To show their support for the cause, Bunyip’s players in the Thirds, Reserves and Seniors in the footy, and A, B and C Grade in the netball will be wearing orange laces as part of the ‘Lace Up Against Social Violence’ initiative.
On Thursday night, more than 100 people from local sporting circles including football, netball and soccer – as well as the wider community – attended a special ‘Step Back. THINK’ presentation at the Bunyip clubrooms.
Football club president Alan Wright emphasised how important the message is.
“We want to make sure our people are spreading the right message throughout the community,” he said.
“Every day you turn the TV on, it seems like one of these one-punch situations has happened.
“There was an incident that could have escalated in our area recently but the boys acted appropriately and defused the situation.
“The message is working, it is getting out there.
“The more we talk about it the better.”
Drouin local Kerry ‘Kez’ Kistemaker has taken her own initiative – One Punch Campaign Australia (OPCA) – out to local sporting and community clubs and has received support from the likes of Gippsland Umpires Association, the Nar Nar Goon-Maryknoll Cricket Club and a host of EDFL clubs – including Bunyip.
“In November 2010 my son had a very close mate who was un-provokedly punched, and as a result of that he died,” she said in a video message on the OPCA Facebook Page.
“We made the trip down to the hospital and unfortunately had to stand there while my son said his last goodbyes to this very close mate of his.
“No-one can find the words to describe how absolutely devastating this is for the family, for the work colleagues, for the friends, and for the community. You just can’t find the words – it’s absolutely devastating.
“I think that if we can get this message out there in the forefront of people’s minds to talk about it – the more we talk about things, the more unacceptable they are.
One punch is all it takes.
“I decided to put my mind to it and I have targeted alcohol-fuelled violence for the simple reason that the majority of these attacks are alcohol-fuelled. Not all, but the majority are.
“I thought it would be a really good idea to come up with something that I could get into pubs and clubs right across Australia – bar mats and coasters to put in the forefront of people’s minds to create conversation, to create awareness of how simple it is – you could actually kill somebody.”
‘Step Back. THINK’, meanwhile, was formed in the wake of the horrific injuries James Macready-Bryan suffered in 2006.
James was assaulted in Melbourne’s CBD on his 20th birthday on 13 October, 2006. A single punch knocked him to the ground where his head smashed against the pavement – resulting in catastrophic brain damage from which he will never recover.
According to the ‘Step Back. THINK’ website, there have been 96 deaths related to street violence since 2000. Of these, 86 were male and 85 were the result of a single punch.
Bunyip hosts Nyora at ‘The Kennel’ tomorrow.
