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Can I vent my spleen about the SCG?
At least the ground staff at ANZ are reasonably polite.
At last Friday night?s AFL game between the Sydney Swans and Carlton my 15 year old son was treated in at the Ground by SCG staff in a disgraceful manner. At the very least, it was representative of extreme provocative and unnecessarily officious conduct, the purpose of which only achieves gratuitous public discord.
At half time during the game my son was playing kick to kick with his mates at the back of the Bradman Stand at a place where the smokers attend. He went into an area of the stadium where he apparently needed a pass out. This is notwithstanding that he has been attending the ground about ten times a year all of life and has never previously required a pass out. However the reality was that he was still within the precincts of the stadium and still within the area of the ?non-members? region.
Critically, he was never informed that he required a pass out to get back into the Bradman Stand.
The problem was that a particular ground staff adult man, I was later informed, told him that in the absence of a pass out he was not permitted to re enter the ground stand. Consequently the boy was literally stranded. He attempted to ring me, (leaving no less than 19 missed calls on my mobile phone). I was sitting in the Bradman Stand. Regretfully I did not hear these attempts by my son to contact me.
No offer was made by any staff member to appropriately assist the child to reunite with his family. Finally, after my son had pleaded for what I understood to be about 20 minutes, he was set free by one of the apparently more humane SCG officials, and permitted to return to his family in the Bradman Stand.
When I later went to complain about this treatment of a child, the official who had initially refused him re-entry to the Bradman Stand, refused to reveal his full name. He then referred me to another official, (apparently his supervisor), who also refused provide me with his full name. This man proceeded to lecture me about being a poor parent and that rules were there to be enforced. He spoke to me about six inches away from my face. This became virtually a one way exchange. Herein I found it nearly impossible to get a word in reply.
I did however manage to ask one single question:
?In the absence of my son being able to contact me, how long was the child supposed to stay there?
He answered:
?Possibly hours.?
My concern here is that whatever the rules of the Ground are, and however rigidly such rules are to be applied, in the absence of informing my son that he required a pass out to return to the Bradman Stand, it was plainly wrong not to permit him to return to the grandstand. Surely these staff member could not seriously believe that this 15 year old child was some form of ground stowaway? This situation was especially unacceptable when one factors in that the SCG staff were dealing here with a child, and where no effort was made to consider his welfare by in effectively being responsible for leaving him completely stranded.
I know that the atmosphere at ANZ isn't a good as the SCG. But at least one does not feel bullied by overly officious ground staff there.
At least the ground staff at ANZ are reasonably polite.
At last Friday night?s AFL game between the Sydney Swans and Carlton my 15 year old son was treated in at the Ground by SCG staff in a disgraceful manner. At the very least, it was representative of extreme provocative and unnecessarily officious conduct, the purpose of which only achieves gratuitous public discord.
At half time during the game my son was playing kick to kick with his mates at the back of the Bradman Stand at a place where the smokers attend. He went into an area of the stadium where he apparently needed a pass out. This is notwithstanding that he has been attending the ground about ten times a year all of life and has never previously required a pass out. However the reality was that he was still within the precincts of the stadium and still within the area of the ?non-members? region.
Critically, he was never informed that he required a pass out to get back into the Bradman Stand.
The problem was that a particular ground staff adult man, I was later informed, told him that in the absence of a pass out he was not permitted to re enter the ground stand. Consequently the boy was literally stranded. He attempted to ring me, (leaving no less than 19 missed calls on my mobile phone). I was sitting in the Bradman Stand. Regretfully I did not hear these attempts by my son to contact me.
No offer was made by any staff member to appropriately assist the child to reunite with his family. Finally, after my son had pleaded for what I understood to be about 20 minutes, he was set free by one of the apparently more humane SCG officials, and permitted to return to his family in the Bradman Stand.
When I later went to complain about this treatment of a child, the official who had initially refused him re-entry to the Bradman Stand, refused to reveal his full name. He then referred me to another official, (apparently his supervisor), who also refused provide me with his full name. This man proceeded to lecture me about being a poor parent and that rules were there to be enforced. He spoke to me about six inches away from my face. This became virtually a one way exchange. Herein I found it nearly impossible to get a word in reply.
I did however manage to ask one single question:
?In the absence of my son being able to contact me, how long was the child supposed to stay there?
He answered:
?Possibly hours.?
My concern here is that whatever the rules of the Ground are, and however rigidly such rules are to be applied, in the absence of informing my son that he required a pass out to return to the Bradman Stand, it was plainly wrong not to permit him to return to the grandstand. Surely these staff member could not seriously believe that this 15 year old child was some form of ground stowaway? This situation was especially unacceptable when one factors in that the SCG staff were dealing here with a child, and where no effort was made to consider his welfare by in effectively being responsible for leaving him completely stranded.
I know that the atmosphere at ANZ isn't a good as the SCG. But at least one does not feel bullied by overly officious ground staff there.
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