Richmond has launched its Season 7 AFLW Pride Guernsey ahead of next weekend’s Pride Round clash against Carlton at Ikon Park.
The predominately yellow design maintains and expands on the stories within the Club’s inaugural Pride Guernsey, worn last season.
Developed in conjunction with the Club’s community partner Midsumma Festival, artist Matthew Chan, captain Katie Brennan, and vice-captain Sarah Hosking, the design captures the journey of those in Richmond’s Women’s program while showing the importance of pride and inclusion.
Beginning again at the bottom of the sash with a young girl sitting and pondering what she can be when she grows up, the jumper continues along its story of growth, identity, and hard work.
Chan said that adding new elements to the existing artistic design of memories and milestones from last season within the sash represented the slow building of history.
“I love the idea of keeping the same design as last season,” he said.
“Nothing is one step to get to a goal. You need to work hard to create your journey. I wanted to pass on the message that everyone starts the same, and we need to work to become who we want to be.”
Brennan reflected on some of the new additions to the artwork, including the writing ‘never, never give up’ and the word ‘mum’ written on a Richmond jumper.
“We share a lot of things in story time, and it’s a really special part of our program. We really invest in each other and that connection within our group,” she said.
“We have two mums within our playing group and many parents among our staff. The (mum) symbol represents that we are a family club, and it’s a really special part of where we are going.”
The sash also includes the addition of the term “We are W,” something Hosking said was powerful to those within the team.
“One of the campaigns that our Richmond Staff have for our AFLW program is I am W,” she explained.
“We understand the work that goes on behind the scenes in helping us get on the field and helping us to be the best athletes we can be. That is from our strength and conditioning staff to our admin staff, the wider community, and supporters.
“Something really important to us is that we want everyone to feel involved.”
Hosking added that her favourite symbolism on the jumper was an image depicting a young girl in a window.
“We made this jumper during Covid, and a lot of girls were going in and out of isolation.
“Kate Sheahan (Head of Football) and Matt Parker (High Performance Manager) ended up riding their bikes to drop food off and check in on people, which really sums up our program.”
Richmond’s Round 8 clash against Carlton commences at 6.30 pm on Friday, October 14, at Ikon Park.
