Melbourne United honoured at Pride in Sports Awards

Written by Melbourne United Media 

Melbourne United have taken home an award at the annual Pride in Sport Awards for the club’s work helping to tell Isaac Humphries’ courageous decision to come out publicly in 2022.

At the awards evening last night, United were honoured with the 2023 Positive Media Award, recognising how the club was able to assist Isaac and share his story.

Isaac sharing his thruth with his teammates in 2022

Upon receiving the award, Melbourne United Chief Marketing Officer Tom van de Vusse spoke about the importance of being able to help Isaac be able to live as his true self, and how crucial recognising moments like this within sport are.

“The team at Melbourne United and I were absolutely privileged to be a part of Isaac’s journey and to be able to tell his story on his special day was incredible,” van de Vusse told the crowd.

“I truly think that we are a stronger sporting organisation and league as a result.

“Over the last few years we’ve really spent a lot of time and effort on developing our culture and one of our values is to be as inclusive as we can.

“To truly live that value throughout this process was really important to us and went a long way in helping support Issac and more broadly the LQBT community.

“We’ve got a lot more to learn and a lot more to do but I really believe that awards like this go a long way to suggest that we are on the right path.”

The LGBTQ Positive Media Award aims to recognise journalist’s contributions towards LGBTQ sporting related media that promote the inclusion of LGBTQ people within sporting organisations at any level, or across sport more broadly, in a positive frame.

Isaac Humphries was also nominated for 2023 Out Role Model of the Year, which was won by rugby star Sharni Williams.

Melbourne United CEO Nick Truelson was also part of a key panel discussion around the role coaches and teams play in providing a safe and welcoming environment.

Nick Truelson addresses the room

This allowed Truelson to take the guests through what the past 12 months have been like while outlining how United looks forward to continuing further its education to play an even bigger role in the coming years alongside the NBL and league partner Champion.

“As a club and a code we need to work even closer together to make sure we continue to trail a path towards making a difference and celebrating diversity on and off the court,” added Truelson.