• Majak's groupies

    Multicultural community ambassadors were recognised at this function held just before the TAC Cup finals at Etihad. This is the inaugural year of the AFL's multicultural community ambassador program and a bit of an experiment in how a program like this might run. It looks like it will continue, which is great news. On a personal level, Maryum and I were attached (through the program) to the North Melbourne Football Club and its values really align with ours (investing in the community, using sport as a vehicle for harmony, recognising education as a key factor in poverty reduction) so we're very keen to continue working with them next year, especially around getting more Muslim women and girls involved in sport.


  • Sometimes you inadvertently come across something that illustrates why stuff like the AFL Multicultural Program is important. I noticed the tweet above, addressed to my friend Mariam (and re-tweeted by her). It was about something that I was involved in and which obviously had an impact on those who saw it.

    The tweet refers to a young girl playing in a hijab at the MCG. The girl was part of North Melbourne's multicultural Auskick group of about thirty children. I joined a couple of other AFL Multicultural Community ambassadors attached to North, to accompany the kids to the MCG by tram from Arden Street (North's home ground and training facility, as well as the home of the Huddle). My husband and footy-mad brother in law (and his equally footy-mad colleague) joined in. As you can imagine, it was quite a sight - a large-ish group of predominantly African kids carrying footballs and the community ambassadors, plus North Melbourne staff, decked in blue and white, on the tram to the MCG. Very Melbourne if you think about it.

    The kids played at half time during the NMFC v Collingwood match which, sadly, was North's last game of the season, having missing out on a finals berth by the tiniest of margins.  But hey, the Pies lost, so there was something to celebrate.


  • Photo: Nasya Bahfen

    Long form radio is a bit of a dying art, so I was privileged to be able to do this type of thing on an occasional basis for Radio National. The last audio documentary I did for the religious affairs program 'Encounter' was about the battle for the sporting hearts and minds of Sydney's much maligned western suburbs. The whole program (audio and transcript plus a cute pic of my sister in Bulldogs and Giants facepaint) can be found on the RN website, and a supplementary article exploring the themes of the program is on the Conversation.

    I've since written about this documentary as practice-based research, for a forthcoming issue of the journal 'Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations' guest-edited by Dr Sven Schottmann. I will also deliver a paper on the topic at an upcoming 'Muslims and Sports' workshop organised by SOAS at the University of London. Sadly, Chelsea won't be playing during my visit to the UK, being the football (soccer) off-season.


  • #creepingsharia at the launch of the AFC Asian Cup 2015 / Australia v Jordan World Cup qualifier  at Etihad Stadium (where there is a prayer room - I can vouch for this having prayed there...).


  • "It's like you and John Terry are twins!" - Bram Presser


    There are nice writeups from J-Wire and the Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) on a comedy debate organised by the ICV and the Jewish Communities Council of Victoria, on the topic 'That Sport Is Not A Religion'. My team had the harder end of the stick I thought - arguing the affirmative. All photos including the ones above by Ahmed Sabra of Lahza Photography.
  • AFL Multicultural Community Ambassadors attached to North Melbourne visited the club at Aegis Park on Arden Street today, to see some of its facilities and meet some of its staff members.

    Me and some local girls playing volleyball at the Huddle. Photo: North Melbourne's Sarah Bourke


    I love the work done by the Huddle. This is North's community space which offers a range of programs for the young people who live in the surrounding community (encompassing sport and academic support services) as well as introducing people to Aussie Rules and the North Melbourne football club.

    They've been recognised several times for the services they provide - as a recipient of the 2012 Premier's Award for Community Harmony, at the Celebration of African Australians National Awards and winner of the 2013 National Migration Council sports leadership award, where the CEO of the Huddle Dr Sonja Hood accepted the award and thanked North Melbourne, "who when building a new facility in 2008 chose to dedicate space to community instead of a bar, or a pokies venue: thank you for having the courage to realise that true success doesn’t come from focusing on yourself and your own needs, but instead results from investing in those around you”. I bet that there's very few professional sporting clubs in the world that do what North Melbourne do at the Huddle.

    The Huddle are on Facebook and Twitter. I'm keen to take a group of Indonesian international students and locals of Indonesian background to visit North Melbourne and catch one of their games.
  • Team Indonesia playing against Team Ireland at the 2013 Harmony Cup. Photo: Nasya Bahfen

    There's a great multi-lingual resource on the AFL website that explains Australian Rules Football in several languages, called Welcome to Australian Football. I've been helping the AFL Multicultural Program translate that information into Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian) and Bahasa Melayu (Malay).

    The bulk of the original Malay translation had been done, and I just picked up a few typos. Because the two languages are essentially quite similar, I used the Malay translation as a base - with several marked differences. The one that caused me the most amusement was 'free kick'. The word 'percuma' in Malay means free but in Indonesian it means useless. Seriously. This became an issue because in Malay 'tendangan percuma' means free kick, but the exact same phrase in Indonesian means useless kick...In Indo it would be 'tendangan bebas' instead.

    Contrary to popular belief, Indonesians and Malaysians aren't just nuts about football (soccer). The Indonesian community in Sydney and Melbourne, for example, have fielded a side in the annual Harmony Cup organised by Global Footy, three times in the last four years. Their team, called Indo Footy, have a website which you can visit here.

  • Photo: jsawkins / Flickr
    The AFL multicultural program wanted increased exposure to its work at VFL/TAC Cup and community levels and were on the lookout for an intern - an independent and driven journalism student, preferably in his/her last year. I pointed them in the direction of the RMIT journalism program, where I taught for six years from 2006-2012, and in particular my former colleague and good friend Alex Wake who is in charge of work placements there. 

    The program sought a student with his or her own car and equipment, a strong background in video journalism, for one day a week for 6 months plus ten days in July in Sydney covering national championships (all expenses paid).

     This was a fantastic opportunity for someone with an interest in sport, social media and multicultural affairs as well as social capacity building. They encouraged students from a multicultural background (i.e. born overseas or one parent born overseas). Look forward to seeing the work produced by the successful applicant.



  • The AFL sent some of its Multicultural Community Ambassadors to the 2013 Sports Without Borders conference. Federal minister for sport Kate Lundy and Basketball Australia CEO Kristina Keneally along with futurist Stephen Tighe gave some thought-provoking presentations. And I scored a photo with an Australian football (soccer) legend - former Socceroo captain Steve Horvath.


  • Team Indonesia's cultural performers at the 2011 Harmony
    Cup. Photo: Nasya Bahfen

    Several AFL Multicultural Community Ambassadors attended a discussion on the planning of Multicultural Round at AFL House, Docklands today. We covered some of the barriers to people from our communities attending footy - from a Muslim perspective that would be perceptions about the widespread presence of alcohol, a lack of halal food, and a place to pray. While dry areas and prayer rooms exist, we were in agreement that not many people were aware of these facilities, so both AFL marketing and we as ambassadors have a part to play in making sure they are aware of them.

    Or, to put it another way, I have something to reply with when someone tells me going to the footy is haram (impermissible) because the booze is free-flowing and I might miss a prayer.

    My fellow multicultural community ambassador Rana Hussain once said that it was heartening to see the AFL make an effort, when it came to building a relationship with our community. With last year's announcement of prayer rooms at all AFL venues (Rana and Bachar Houli of Richmond were instrumental in this), and existing dry areas, it seems that halal pies would be the icing on the cake, for an Aussie Muslim footy experience. #creepingsharia

    Oh, and Rana and I prayed Maghrib next to the Brownlow Medal in the AFL House lobby. There's a candidate for the strangest place I've done sholat.
  • One of the major events the AFL Multicultural Program organises is the Unity Cup. 

    Team MUJU girls. Photo: Sharon Kuper

    For the six or seven years the Unity Cup's been held, there's never been female player involvement until this year - this is something our team coached by the Western Bulldogs (and our opponents coached by The Huddle at the North Melbourne Football Club) should all be proud of. 

    And if you'd like a laugh at my expense check out the Moonee Valley Leader front page and story featuring a photo of us with (gasp) Majak Daw. The story was written by a former student of mine, Linh Ly, who's a reporter with Leader. 
  • On the same day as the Unity Cup, the 2013 Harmony Cup was held not far away at Royal Park North, in Carlton. The Harmony Cup is not organised by the AFL but by Global Footy. It's always a fun day - cultural performances (thankfully brief...), food, and footy.

    Sadly my brother's Team Indonesia were trounced in all three matches - but winning is never the aim of these things, right? Right?


    Check out Team Indonesia's website or like the Harmony Cup on Facebook
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