Tyrendarra Club Bans Convicted Sex Offender After Backlash

The Tyrendarra Football Netball Club has issued a stark public apology and banned convicted sex offender James Williams, after a wave of anger over its decision to welcome him back following his release from jail.

The south-west Victorian club has been under fierce scrutiny since an ABC investigation revealed it had allowed Williams to return last year, despite his conviction for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl on a post-season football trip.

On Wednesday, the club’s committee released a statement conceding it had got the decision badly wrong.

“We are sorry,” the statement read, before acknowledging that the club had failed to meet basic community standards for an organisation “built around children”.

The statement did not name Williams, but the ABC understands he has now been removed from the club in direct response to the public outcry and media reporting.

Club concedes it failed its own community

In unusually direct language for a community club, Tyrendarra’s committee admitted it had not given enough weight to what players, parents and supporters expected.

“We accept we did not give enough weight to what our community rightly expects of a Club built around children, and those we let down deserve a straightforward apology,” the statement said.

The committee also recognised the hurt expressed by those who spoke out about the club’s handling of the matter and the “trust we have lost with them”.

The apology was posted to social media on Wednesday afternoon, ahead of a planned face-to-face meeting with some members. An earlier meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, was abandoned after the venue details were circulated online.

Victim and wider community acknowledged

Tyrendarra said it recognised the harm suffered by Williams’s victim, a then 15-year-old girl he sexually assaulted at a concert in Adelaide in 2022.

The club extended its apology beyond the immediate parties to the broader region.

“To anyone in our community affected by this episode and its coverage, we are sorry for the distress it has caused,” the statement read.

The fallout has already bitten hard. Sponsors have walked away, including south-west Victorian MP Roma Britnell, who withdrew her support as the controversy intensified.

‘Careful process’ now under question

The club maintains it followed a “careful process” before allowing Williams to return, saying it had sought expert advice and consulted widely within the club.

During its investigation, the ABC asked Tyrendarra to detail what steps it had taken before readmitting Williams. The club did not respond to those questions.

That silence has only deepened the anger among some in the community, who expected stronger safeguards and clearer communication from a club that fields junior teams and promotes itself as a family environment.

New code of conduct promised

Under pressure to prove it has learned from the saga, the committee has promised structural change.

It will introduce a binding code of conduct covering players, coaches, officials and volunteers, with explicit provisions allowing for removal from the club if the code is breached, whether on or off the field.

“We do not expect these commitments to be taken on trust alone. We intend to be judged on what we do from here,” the committee said.

For a small country club that prides itself on community, the next test is no longer about results on a Saturday afternoon. It is whether the people around it believe Tyrendarra can rebuild the trust it so publicly admits it has lost.