Sports Management Essay: The Positive Impact of Nicky Winmar's Protest

This essay delves into the case of Nicky Winmar, a prominent Australian rules footballer, and his significant impact on society through his protests against racism. The essay begins by outlining Winmar's career and accomplishments, highlighting his experiences with racial vilification. The core of the essay focuses on his powerful protest during a 1993 match against Collingwood, where he responded to racist abuse by pointing to his skin, an act that became a symbol of anti-racism. The essay analyzes the positive effects of Winmar's actions, including increased awareness of racism in sports, societal support for his cause, and the subsequent changes in the AFL's policies, such as the launch of the "Racism. It Stops With Me" campaign. The essay emphasizes Winmar's role in inspiring others to protest racial discrimination and his lasting legacy in promoting equality and justice within Australian society. The essay also highlights the significance of his actions in inspiring others to stand against racism and the lasting impact of his protest on the sporting landscape and broader society.

Running head: SPORTS MANAGEMENT
Sports Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Australia has many athletes within the country. These athletes are both male and
female. They are very popular and their image is used for gaining advantage in the marketing.
This, for sure, has a positive impact on their fans and followers as well. Some of the athletes
have gone through many events of suffering in their lives. This is why they have protested
against such incidents. This helps in the growth of their image as well. These protests by
these athletes have led to the people of the society supporting their causes. On such athlete
was Nicky Winmar. This protest that he had made was regarding the racist comments made
against him. Due to this protest, he gathered the support in his favour. The protest was strong
enough from every aspect. Thus his supporters had become enraged upon the athlete who had
made such comments against him. The sports audience all over the world also became aware
of the negative impact of racism in this manner. Such incidents take place in sports many
times. Such types of cases have made the common people and the sports mangers aware
about the impact of racism on human psychology. They will be able to investigate and take
strict actions against such behaviours. This is what will be discusses more elaborately in the
following paragraphs of the essay.
The purpose of this essay is to discuss the case of Nicky Winmar and the protests
which he had made against racism and how it has a positive effect on the society.
Before the case and the positive impact of Nicky Winmar on the Australian society is
discussed, it is important to know about the athlete and his accomplishments in the world of
sports. Neil Elvis “Nicky” Winmar is a well-known former Australian rules footballer, who is
best known for his career for the teams of Western Bulldogs and St. Kilda in the Australian
Football League. In addition to this, he had also played for the team of South Fremantle in the
West Australian Football League. He is the first Aboriginal footballer who have played more
than 200 games in the AFL (Philpott 2017). Apart from this, the footballer is also known
being involved in several instances of racial vilification during his career. This is supported

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by the fact that photograph of the footballer responding to one such instance, which has
quickly become one of the most arguable images in Australia, as it tells the people about the
problems of racism in the country.
Winmar is well-known for the racial controversies which he had faced in his career
just like the matches he had played. The first case of racism which he had to face was in a
match in the year of 1998 when former player Dermott Brereton had apologised to Winmar in
public after he had racially abused him and Russell Jeffrey in a game in the year 1990
(Philpott 2017). It was also because of the racial discrimination towards him and the other
indigenous players of the team that Winmar had cancelled appearing for The Footy Show in
blackface. However, Winmar appeared on The Footy Show in a pre-programmed segment
which was taped earlier.
However, the most serious case of racial discrimination which he had to face in his
life was when he played against Collingwood in season 4 of the 1993 season. It was in this
game that Winmar had to face severe racial discrimination from the members of the
Collingwood cheer squad, who mostly insulted by asking him to go sniff petrol and to go
away form where he came about(Mauro 2017). It had been stated by Winmar himself that it
was the most severe case of racial discrimination which he himself had to face. It is because
of the racial discriminations which he had to endure that he lifted up his jumper and faced the
crowd pointing to his skin. This was one of the vital points of the game because of the
photograph showing this action of the footballer (Philpott 2017).
This action by the footballer was considered to be important because it brought the
indigenous community of the country in support of the footballer and the harassment which
he had to face in the football field. In fact, the photograph which captured the pose of the
footballer in the field(Liddle 2017). His photograph was published in the newspaper which

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included the quote of the footballer “I am black and I am proud of it” was seen one of the
important anti- Racist comments of the time along with another important caption, which
stated “I have got guts”.
A number of leading newspapers of the times have called it as one of the best and
most important images that one can find which represents the cause of anti-Racism. The
photograph got so popular among the audiences and the fans of Winmar that the photograph
has been compared with that of the Black Power Salute, which was performed by the
American Athletes in the year 1968 at the Summer Olympics on the basis of Impact(Mauro
2017). In addition to this, thephotograph of Winmar also inspired the well-known singer
named Archie Roach to sing a song named “Colour of Your Jumper”. The singer had
dedicated this song to the footballer based on the jumper and the action which he had made
on the field (Smithers 2015). The photograph was also included to be a part of the collage
which was titled as Once Upon a Time and it became the Winner of the 2014 Basil Sellers
Art Prize in the country. Hence it can be said that the actions which were taken by Winmar
had resulted in a lot of people supporting for him and his cause(Liddle 2014).
It is because of the actions of Winmar and the popularity of the issue that the board of
the league at that time had decided to take the matter into their own hands to see that further
cases of racism and racial discrimination does not happen in any of the matches. In order to
stop the situations of racism in the country, the AFL had launched “The Racism. It stops With
Me Campaign”. The campaign is dedicated to the cause of removing racial discrimination in
the country(Mauro 2017). The campaign had been supported by 350 organizations, which
includes the major football, cricket and other sporting organizations in the country. This was
mainly possible due to the efforts of Adam Goodes and Nicky Winmar, who had protested
against the issues of racial discrimination which he had to face in the matches in which he
played (Philpott2017).

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The athlete Nicky Winmar is said to have a positive impact on the society due to his
actions. The main reason for this is that the actions which was taken by the footballer during
his playing years in the field had revealed the issue of the racism which takes place inside the
games. It has made the people of the society aware about the actions which needs to be taken
by them to ensure that no one in the society becomes another victim of racial discrimination.
In addition to that, the actions of Winmar have also garnered a lot of support from his
followers and fans, who protested against the issues of racial discrimination in the country
(Philpott 2017). In addition to this, he famous footballer had also made sure to donate his
jumpers to the cause of the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders so that they could be
encouraged and motivated by the actions of the footballer. This would also allow these
people from the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait Islanders to make sure that the white
skinned people of the country cannot take any sort of advantage from these people
(Dabscheck 2015).
The other positive impact which Nicky Winmar had on the Australian society is that
the AFL been forced to change the rules regarding that of racism in the football matches. It
was because of the efforts made by Winmar, that the AFL had to take serious measures
against the people who continued the practice of racism in the country. The AFL in this case
had led to the implementation of The Racism(Butcher et al.2017). It Stops with Me
campaign. It is because of this campaign that the players of the AFL had been safe from the
instances of the racial vilification. In addition to this, a statue of Nicky Winmar had also been
built which would remind his fans and followers about the actions which he had undertaken
in the matches (Philpott 2017). The photograph of Nicky Winmar pointing to his skin
towards the fans is also considered to be important as it signifies a symbol of the protests
towards the issue of racism and racial discrimination in the country. The other important
factor is the statue of Nicky Winmar (Smithers2015). This statue is also considered to be

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important mainly because of the pose made by the footballer. It is this pose which draws
inspirations for those who are not white and are from an indigenous or from the Aboriginal
and the Torres Strait Islands.
The actions of Nicky Winmar is also said to have inspired a lot of people who have
come up with their own methods of protesting against the Aboriginals and the Torres Strait
Islanders or the people from the other indigenous backgrounds in the country (Judd et al.
2017). It is for this reason that Adam Goods of the AFL had been launching a number of
campaigns to make sure that the players are being protected during the matches. It is the
inspiration which Adam Goods took from the actions of Nicky Winmar which had caused
him to imitate in the same way as Winmar and to help a girl who was harassed on the basis of
racism by gathering support for her on the social media channels (Philpott 2017). Hence, it
can be said that Nicky Winmar indeed had a positive effect on the society when he had
inspired so many people to protest against the issues of race and racial discriminations faced
by the people of the country. It is the efforts of Nicky Winmar which had taught the blacks
and the indigenous people of the country to stand up and protest the case of the racial
discrimination in the country. Moreover, this was the incident which had turned Winmar into
a celebrity and gained the sympathy and the support of the fans in the country. In addition,
the donation of his shirt to the Aboriginals in the country was also a move which made him
an inspiration for these people of Australia (Smithers 2015).
Thus, from the above discussions, it can be concluded that racism is indeed a serious
issue in the country and the efforts of the footballer named Nicky Winmar had taught the
people of the country to stand up against the problems of racism and racial discrimination in
the country. The way he handled the racial vilification and responded to the fans about the
issue can be said to be a symbol of the anti-Racist attitude which the people of the country

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should be having. Hence, it can be said that Nicky Winmar indeed taught the people of the
country how to raise their voices against racism.

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