Flying Bats bridging the gap

Nadine Wild was thankful for a club as welcoming and inclusive as The Flying Bats when she emigrated to Sydney from the UK.

The keen footballer arrived in Australia three years ago and while she is now president of the club, it was just a quick Google search quickly put her in touch with the Bats.

“They were just the club that came out on top,” Wild said.

“It’s an awesome club. A real nice community full of like-minded people.

“As someone new to the country, it was an awesome place for me to meet some people and make a few friends.”

The Flying Bats are a not-for-profit women’s community football club; whose members share a passionate love for football.

The club believes in being inclusive, the health and well-being of its members and creating a sense of community.

The Bats are about football for all.

“We have over 100 players this season,” Wild said.

They welcome all women to come and play football and socialise.

While the Bats are not an exclusively lesbian club, it does have a number of members who openly identify as lesbian and as such the club plays an active role in the Sydney LGBT community.

The Bats have a host of all-age teams with different ranges of age and skill, meaning any women who are looking to play football can easily sign up.

The club celebrated its 30th birthday in 2015 and was actually founded in Adelaide before being formally established in Sydney when the founding members moved.

Based in Tempe, the club plays its football in the North West Sydney Women’s Football Association.

-By Matthew Galea