SYDNEY RANGERS: AUSTRALIA'S FIRST GAY & INCLUSIVE SOCCER CLUB

This month, we're all about bringing some noise to legends out there doing cool things. We are shining that spotlight on Sydney Rangers Football Club. Sydney Rangers is Australia's first and Sydney's only gay and inclusive men's football club. Amazing right?

We were proud to come on board as a supporter in October 2021 to help bring Playing with Pride to life. To kick things off, we caught up with the legends from Sydney Rangers for a quick Q&A.

Heaps Normal x Sydney Rangers Team

HN: We love the Rangers but for someone who has never heard of you, what's the club's core mission/ passion?

SR: Thanks, we love you too! Sydney Rangers FC is an LGBTQIA+ inclusive football club with more than 100 members playing in six competitive squads in Sydney's Inner West.

We’re a football club where anyone is welcome. The Rangers was founded in 1997 by a group of gay men, and while gay and bisexual men make up the majority of our members today, we also have many allies and people from different cultural backgrounds who enjoy the environment we’ve created and can just focus on expressing themselves on the pitch.

It’s all about playing the beautiful game in a beautiful way.

HN: Amazing. Tell us what, as a club, you're trying to normalise and why you think Heaps Normal is a great fit to help.

SR: We’re all about creating a judgement-free grassroots sporting environment, and I think that aligns perfectly with what Heaps Normal are trying to do in terms of judgement-free drinking. We are all about enabling people to be part of something - whether that's a social group or playing football. We want to enable that. Between the Rangers and Heaps Normal we enable that normalness. Whether it's a social gathering where you can enjoy Heaps Normal without judgment or because you are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. What we love is that you can also play for the Rangers and be part of our community. We believe in welcoming people who may not feel comfortable joining other groups and having an ever-growing brand with a similar purpose will only drive us forward.

Heaps Normal x Sydney Rangers Playing Jersey

HN: You've made some big changes recently, going through a rebrand and remodelling. What have been some of the best moments for the team and club as a whole?

SR: That’s right, we rebranded the club in 2022 with a new logo and look and feel. We’ve got an amazing 25 years of history, but we want to look ahead to the next 25 with a fresh new look that says more about who we are. We’ve had so many highlights over the past 25 years, including competing in international tournaments in Miami and Paris and our annual games against Melbourne Rovers (Melbourne’s LGBTQIA+ soccer team). We were all really proud of our Division 1 Team last year who won the division for the first time. That shows how far we’ve come as a club since it was set up 25 years ago, and we owe a lot to all our volunteers who have put in the hard yards over those years to get us there.

HN: What's the best way people can support the club?

SR: We are always looking for new playing members and we’ll have social events pretty much every weekend once the season finishes in August. Of course, those take place on and off the pitch, and we always stick around for a can or two of Heaps Normal after a game. We play every Saturday so if you fancy coming along to watch some slick football, get yourself along to a game. We publish our fixtures on our social media every Friday. We’re pretty active on social media and we’ll be incredibly active as we gear up to host a massive international LGBTQIA+ football tournament at Sydney World Pride in February 2023. It’s going to be huge - so lace up your boots and get involved!

@SydneyRangersFC

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