The Multicultural Football Month

SANFL “MY FOOTY” Program March 20112 saw the successful expansion of the SANFL “MY Footy” to Salisbury High. The My Footy program involves running an afterschool football program for multicultural youth at designated High schools and linking them to local community football clubs. The program involves not only football training but includes lessons on diet, nutrition, fitness assessment and cultural awareness instruction. Session on diet and nutrition were conducted by staff from Health SA and OPAL. The program now has students from the Adelaide Secondary School of English (ASSOE) linked to Fitzroy Football Club and students from Salisbury High linked to Salisbury North Football Club.

Multicultural Academy Camp On Friday evening the 16th March, thirty hesitant Multicultural Youth from 14 different countries arrived at Adelaide Shores resort for the Inaugural Multicultural Academy Camp. After initial introductions and room allocations the participants enjoyed a meal together followed by an interactive session on Cultural Awareness delivered by Evan Babister from Thebarton Senior College. This was followed by a presentation on Drugs & Alcohol by Jumar & Constable Kym Foster from SAPOL’s African Liaison section. The images and lessons learnt from this presentation were the basis of a lot of conversation over the entire weekend. 

A surprise visitor was David Rodan from the Port Adelaide Football Club who talked and mingled with the boys relaying his own experiences from his football journey. 

An early wakeup call on Saturday saw the Camp participants taken on a stroll along the beach followed by a basic skills session. A wholesome breakfast was followed by a two hours session with Instructors from Surf Rescue SA. Several of the boys, not accustomed to the sea, were taken well out of their comfort zone when asked to paddle and swim out of their depth. 

The afternoon was spent putting the boys through basic skills sessions and the AFL Fitness testing, which produced some surprising results. To finish the day the Academy clambered into our bus and went to AAMI Stadium to watch the Crows defeat the West Coast Eagles in the NAB Cup Final. At AAMI Stadium the squad was joined by an enthusiastic Emmanuel Irra who ensured that the Academy lads became animated and vocal supporters of the Crows. After such a long day most of them fell asleep on the bus trip back to Camp. 

Sunday began with a later breakfast and pack & tidy up before the boys were again joined by David Rodan at a local oval for more skills and a warm up before a trail game to put their skills to the test. As a result of the weekend Academy, twelve participants were selected to attend the Unity Cup in Melbourne, based on their fitness, attitude and skill level.

2012 Unity Cup The Unity Cup is a 9-a-side Multicultural Carnival held annually in Melbourne and this was the first year that Interstate teams were invited to participate. The South Australian Multicultural team selected to attend were:

Three staff members accompanied the Squad they were Tom Ellenbroek, the sports coordinator from Adelaide Secondary School of English and Coach, David Hutton as Assistant Coach and selector ,and Peter Cates as the Team Manager. They were later joined by Emmanuel Irra acting as a mentor for the team.
 
The team contained boys from nine different countries. Only half the boys had played football at club level and three of those boys had only commenced their football careers at Fitzroy Football Club last season. 

The majority of the opposing teams that South Australia encountered in Melbourne were far more experienced than our local lads. However, it was a great learning experience for our Multicultural youth and the improvement in their playing and understanding of the game very visible. As the day wore on the margins narrowed significantly and finally the raw South Australian side won a game. 

It was an excellent experience in many ways for all the young men involved. Most had never been to Melbourne, some had never flown or were too young to remember it. The hotel accommodation was novel to most and they made the most of the facilities, even swimming in unseasonable temperatures. The boys also made friends across numerous cultures and were great ambassadors for the SANFL and football in South Australia.



Multicultural Boys a hit at Fitzroy

Mohamed, Filmon, Hayder, Khan and Ihsan names that you would associate more with soccer, but in our every increasing multicultural society these young lads from the Adelaide Secondary School of English (ASSOE) are playing Australian Rules football with the Fitzroy Football Club. The SANFL introduced a football program at ASSOE last year and this year the program expanded to include an association with the Fitzroy Football Club. This has formed a successful school to club link and introduced the boys to the social environment of clubland. The boys have taken up our National game with a real passion and won their first game by 10 Goals. 



The boys in action:



Welcome to Australia initiative

The SANFL supports the Welcome to Australia initiative officially launched in April with Ivan Maric, Chris Knights, Ricky Henderson and Aiden Riley from the Crows and Emmanuel Irra from South Adelaide.

Welcome to Australia Objectives: 

1. To publicly and personally give refugees, new arrivals and other migrants a positive, warm welcome to Australia
2. To personally and relationally connect all Australian with refugees, new arrivals and other migrants, new arrivals, and other migrants in a setting that facilitates social inclusion and low-key education around migration and integration issues. 



To support this initiative and for further information visit following sites: 

www.facebook.com/welcometoaustralia
http://www.welcometoaustralia.org.au


Footy speaks a common language

Stars of tomorrow: Bassam Arjish, left, and Samuka Dolley are in an AFL program for new arrivals. 

They may have only been playing Aussie rules for three months, but boys from Adelaide Secondary School of English (ASSOE) are aiming for higher stakes in their footy careers. 

The SANFL began running the program specifically with this school to help new arrivals get a grasp on Aussie culture. Football helped with their language as well as social integration skills. Approximately 90 per cent of new immigrants of high school age who moved to Adelaide came through the Adelaide Secondary School, in West Croydon. 

Five players from ASSOE had been selected to attend the AFL Multicultural Academy Camp in Melbourne. They are: 

• Bassam Arjish Syria
• Samuka Dolley Guinea
• Aloys Uwiringiyamana Rwanda
• Goitom Hagos Ethiopia
• Michael Nanai Samoa 

In addition to the above players four other multicultural players from local clubs have also been selected to attend the AFL Multicultural Academy: 

• Shane Bakridi Guyana
• Emmanuel Irra Uganda
• Garang Lual Sudan
• Abdual Zeon Guinea

SANFL Multicultural Round

The SANFL staged its inaugural ‘be active’ Multicultural Round on Saturday, August 1 – a first for a state football league in Australia. 

The Multicultural Round was about celebrating the diversity among players, volunteers and supporters of South Australian football. It was also an opportunity for the SANFL to welcome South Australia’s multicultural communities, including recently-arrived migrants, to be involved in Aussie Rules. 

There were a wide range of spectacular multicultural performers at each ground - from the spectacular Burundian drummers to the entertaining Polish folk dancers to the 40-piece African Peace Choir. 

There were also some new faces in the crowd from around the world, invited by the SANFL to witness their first game of Aussie Rules. Lending an international feel to the match day there were PA announcements in six different languages and the switching of traditional footy fare at some grounds to reflect a more multicultural menu. 

Multicultural SA

Indian Football Program

If you thought you saw a group of Indian people playing football on the University Ovals at the back of the Zoo on a Sunday morning you were not mistaken. With assistance from Multicultural SA a nine week program was run to introduce the Adelaide Indian community to our national sport.




World Eighteen Squad