Tyrendarra Club Bans Convicted Sex Offender and Issues Apology

The Tyrendarra Football Netball Club has reversed its controversial decision to welcome back a convicted sex offender, banning him from the club and issuing a stark public apology after a wave of community anger and lost sponsorship.

The south-west Victorian club came under heavy scrutiny after an ABC investigation revealed it had allowed James Williams to return to its ranks last year. Williams had been jailed for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl during a post-season football trip, attacking her at a concert in Adelaide in 2022.

This week, the club’s leadership bowed to the pressure.

“We are sorry,” the statement read, in blunt terms rarely seen in club politics.

The ABC understands Williams has now been removed from the club in the wake of the media coverage and the public backlash that followed.

A club built around kids

The committee admitted it had failed to properly weigh the expectations of a community that sends its children through the club’s doors every week.

“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 club also acknowledged those who had spoken out about the handling of the matter and the damage done to trust between the committee and its members.

“We also acknowledge those who have spoken about how this was handled, and the trust we have lost with them,” it added.

The apology was posted on social media on Tuesday afternoon, just hours before a scheduled face-to-face meeting with some members. An earlier meeting, planned for Monday, had to be abandoned after its location was shared online, raising concerns about safety and crowd management.

Victim at the centre

Beyond the internal fallout, the club moved to recognise the person at the heart of the case: the teenage girl Williams sexually assaulted.

Tyrendarra said it recognised the harm done to Williams’s victim, who was 15 at the time of the assault in 2022.

It also extended its apology to the broader community.

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

Sponsors walk away

The apology comes after concrete consequences off the field. Sponsors began to distance themselves from the club, including south-west Victorian MP Roma Britnell, who withdrew her support as the controversy deepened.

Under mounting pressure, the committee defended its original process, saying it had followed a “careful process” in allowing Williams to return. That process, it said, included expert advice and wide consultation across the club.

But when the ABC, as part of its investigation, asked Tyrendarra to detail what those steps were, the club did not respond. Silence only fuelled more questions.

Now, the club has moved to show it understands the scale of the breach.

New code of conduct promised

The committee has pledged structural change, promising to introduce a binding code of conduct for players, coaches, officials and volunteers. The code will include clear grounds for removal if breached — 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 statement concluded.

For a community club that prides itself on being a hub for families and young people, that judgment has already begun — and it will not be decided on the scoreboard.