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Spikey Dykes is a free social soccer group for sapphics.
While some of us only feel soccer fever whenever the Matildas or Socceroos are carving it up, for others soccer is as much about community as competition.
Rain or shine, every week on a Wednesday evening up to 100 members of the Spikey Dykes descend on an inner north Melbourne/Naarm soccer pitch, ready to play.
The social soccer group, started in October 2024 by Maïa Mattisse, was born from a desire to create a space to hang out in a free and accessible way. Thanks to word of mouth and a strong Instagram presence, Spikey Dykes has grown quickly, welcoming “dykes and sapphics of all expressions, with all skill levels,” says club president Jaiya Aryal.
They don’t play “typical soccer”, explains Jaiya. While a standard soccer team fields 11 players on the pitch at a time, Spikey Dykes adjusts team sizes depending on how many people show up to play, who wants to play more of a chill game and who wants to play competitively. There’s no offside rule and no red cards, but there is a referee. “A lot of it is self-educated learning and working and adapting to the space we’ve created,” Jaiya says.
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Spikey Dykes is free to join and there are very few barriers to entry. Ideally participants already have a general understanding of the rules of soccer, but if not, the rules are explained at the start of each match. What is a must as a Spikey Dyke is a commitment to respecting the space and each other.
The group is run by a core committee of 10 – Jaiya, Fel, Tate, Lucinda, Izzy, Piper, Alice, Ella, Beth and Saph – and there’s also a game-day group who help facilitate the weekly matches.
Spikey Dykes isn’t part of an official league, a decision the group members have made consciously. “If you legitimise things a bit too hard, too quickly, it cuts out a whole lot of people who just want to chill out and hang,” Jaiya says. “In this economy, no one can afford to be part of things long-term, so we want to avoid financial inaccessibility, especially when we have so many international students and people who are here for short amounts of time.”
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Jaiya says that while support from bodies such as Football Victoria is nice, the group is driven by an “if you want something done right, you’ve got to do it yourself” mentality. Bibs and goals, for example, have been purchased thanks to donations from players and supporters who want to see the club do well. “We just want to be supported in what we’re doing.”
Spikey Dykes members currently play in an overflow area of Princes Park, which means there’s no guarantee that they will have that space week to week. “That’s anxiety-inducing for me, because we deserve to exist,” Jaiya says. “In order to book a field, you need to be part of a club, which can cost a lot of money. There are a lot of hoops that we need to jump through.” Having a guaranteed field each week would mean not having “to flail around measuring a field that’s half in the dark,” Jaiya says. “We’re just a group of dykes with ambition.”
Jaiya’s other dream for Spikey Dykes is for the group to one day meet the Matildas, a team they’ve watched achieve sporting glory on the big screen but not in person. “Anything that they do is great for us because it shows that queers exist and we’re actually pulling it through for everyone,” Jaiya says.
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While most of the Spikey Dykes players are fairly local, some travel further – one player even lives regionally, travelling over an hour to matches. They had initially spotted Spikey Dykes on Instagram and felt it was a group they would feel included in.
After each match, many of the players and supporters stick around and head to a nearby pub to hang out. “We’re more than just a team; a lot of friendships have been formed. Community has been strengthened outside of Spikey Dykes as well as within the space,” Jaiya says.
Player numbers often fluctuate from game to game, and Spikey Dykes continues to welcome new members, most of whom send an Insta DM or email before joining a 500-plus WhatsApp group for members. There’s no required time commitment as a result, as they don’t need the same people to turn up weekly.
“Someone might come for one game, then not come for three months and then return,” explains Jaiya. “And we keep seeing new people every week. We’re not going to turn people away from being a part of it.
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“Each week it gets more and more solid in who we are, what we do, what we stand for and the space we protect. There’s strength in numbers and our numbers are strong.”
While many of the players – most of whom are in their 20s and 30s – played soccer as kids or teens, for some the appeal is less about the sport and more about inclusion, connection and the chance to be themselves.
“Seeing people in their own selves is one of the most beautiful things – just being able to present as they are and not have to feel like they’re masking in a world where we’re constantly masking,” Jaiya says. “The encouragement is there to keep going and keep being yourself.”
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