New radio ads

Sports stars call for safe, fair and inclusive sport

Summer sport is still in full swing: cricket bats are swinging at every level right across the nation; football's A-League is coming down to the crunch time of the season; our Women's National Cricket Team is doing battle with their Kiwi counterparts; and the Olympic Swimming Qualifiers get underway next month.

And as much as we all like to win, it's important to keep in mind that good sportsmanship is one of the most important aspects of any sport. Unsporting conduct - such as abusing referees, screaming at kids from the sidelines, racial or sexual slurs etc. - have no place in sport, and often causes some of our youngsters and up-and-coming talent to quit sport altogether.

To reinforce this, four of Australia's top sportsmen and women have joined forces with Play by the Rules to encourage community sport and recreation clubs to help keep sport safe, fair and inclusive. They include:

• One of our brightest Olympic hopes, swimmer Alicia Coutts

• one of our most highly decorated Socceroos, Brett Emerton

• the exceptionally talented Ellyse Perry who represents Australia in two sports – cricket and football, and

• Australian cricketer, Usman Khawaja

Each of these sports leaders have recorded a 30-second radio Community Service Announcement (CSA) for Play By The Rules - messages that touch on some key themes, including: racism in sport, respect for women, inclusion in sport for everyone, parents not berating kids from the sideline, and so on. Listen out for these important messages on the airwaves over the next four weeks.

Play by the Rules is a unique collaboration between the Australian Sports Commission, all state and territory departments of sport and recreation, federal, state and territory anti-discrimination agencies, and the NSW Commission for Children and Young People.