Morgan BellOur Multi-Cultural AFL
January 23rd 2009 05:57
January 26th is Australia Day. A day for stubbies and thongs and blowflies. A day for BBQs and cricket and the beach and lying under the sprinkler. Perhaps most importantly a day off work, is there anything more cherished to an Australian than a long weekend?
As you sit in front of your pedestal fan glugging on your beer this Australia Day long-weekend, you may spend a minute or two contemplating how things have changed from this time last year, last decade, or even last century.
Take a swig while I reflect . . .
The Australian Football League has become quite multi-cultural. I dont know exactly when it happened, I think it kind of crept up and nobody noticed, but I think it is a pleasing indication of how we as a nation are making a cultural shift towards embracing diversity.
I had an idea of what I thought the league looked like. Mostly Anglo convict-origin types, with a healthy dash of Italians and Greeks as our ethnic twist, offset of course by a smattering of remarkable Indigenous players.
Asians and Muslims? Nah, surely not!
Latinos, Indians, Islanders, Eastern Europeans? Yes the AFL has become a little sporting United Nations!
Maybe only a few, but theyre there!
I remember when people used to moan and groan and roll their eyes at all the "bleeding hearts" that spoke of creating a cultural melting pot, of caring and sharing, equity, and assimilation here in Australia. People were reluctant to allow immigration because they feared ghettos and segregation and racial tension. But here we are in the year 2009 and we see young men from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds having a go at playing footy.
This is a list of some current and former AFL players born in a country outside Australia or have at least one of their parents either born outside of Australia or of non-Australian ethnicity.
Thailand
Sudjai Cook (Adelaide)
South Korea
Peter Bell (Korean Mother, American Father)
India
Balraj Singh, Jade Cleary, Daniel Kerr (Indian Father)
Singapore
Paul Medhurst
Burma
Andrew Embley (Burmese father) (West Coast)
Chinese
Danny Seow (North Melbourne), Les Kew Ming (Collingwood/Melbourne), Wally Koochew (Carlton)
Turkey
Sedat Sir
Lebanon
Bachar Houli (Lebanese parents), Milham Hanna (Born in Lebanon to Lebanese parents)
Albania
Adem Yze (Melbourne)
Zimbabwe
Stephen Lawrence (Hawthorn), Ian Perrie (Adelaide)
New Zealand (Maori)
Brett Peake (part Maori), Paul Bower (part Maori)
Samoa
Aaron Edwards (Samoan mother, New Zealander father)
Papua New Guinea
Mal Michael, James Gwilt (Papua New Guinean mother), Winis Imbi
Fiji
David Rodan, Setanta Ó hAilpín (Fijian mother), Aisake O'hAilpin, Alipate Carlile
Tuvalu
Scott Harding (Tuvaluan mother)
Philippines
Mathew Stokes
South Africa
Damian Cupido, Ian Muller
Barbados
Joshua Gibson (North Melbourne)
Spain
Paul Licuria (Italian father, Spanish mother)
Chile
Daniel Segovia, Jose Romero (North Melbourne/Footscray)
Brazil
Heritier O'Brien (Afro-Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro) (Collingwood)
Serbia
Sam Kekovich
Switzerland
Matthew Leuenberger (Swiss father)
Lithuania
Jason Akermanis, Adam Ramanauskas
Russia
Salim Hassan, Bohdan Jaworskyj, Alex Jesaulenko
Macedonia
Peter Daicos, Peter Berbakov, John Gastev, Mark Nicoski, Nick Malceski
Netherlands
Robbert Klomp, Paul van der Haar, Richard Vandenberg, Nathan Van Berlo
Malta
Adam Attard, Jayden Attard, Tony Buhagiar, David Calthorpe, John Charles Formosa, Blake Grima, Adam Saliba
Poland
Brian Sierakowski, David Sierakowski, David Wojcinski, Justin Koschitzke, Phil Krakouer, Jim Krakouer, Mark Majerczak, Jason Porplyzia
Ukraine
Jason Daniltchenko, Alex Ishchenko, Bohdan Jaworskyj, Alex Jesaulenko (Carlton/St Kilda), Steven Kolyniuk, Steven Kretiuk, Justin Staritski, Shane Woewodin
Croatia
Jon Dorotich, Damien Gaspar, Darren Gaspar, Travis Gaspar, Brent Grgic, Ilija Grgic, Allen Jakovich, Glen Jakovich, Stephen Jurica, Ivan Maric, Matthew Pavlich, Val Perovic, Steven Salopek, Craig Starcevich, Peter Sumich, Jacob Surjan, Tomislav Butkovic, Marc Dragicevic, Alan Didak (Collingwood), Ray Gabelich (Collingwood), Adrien Barich (West Coast)
original list compiled by Wikipedia HERE
As you sit in front of your pedestal fan glugging on your beer this Australia Day long-weekend, you may spend a minute or two contemplating how things have changed from this time last year, last decade, or even last century.
Take a swig while I reflect . . .
The Australian Football League has become quite multi-cultural. I dont know exactly when it happened, I think it kind of crept up and nobody noticed, but I think it is a pleasing indication of how we as a nation are making a cultural shift towards embracing diversity.
I had an idea of what I thought the league looked like. Mostly Anglo convict-origin types, with a healthy dash of Italians and Greeks as our ethnic twist, offset of course by a smattering of remarkable Indigenous players.
Asians and Muslims? Nah, surely not!
Latinos, Indians, Islanders, Eastern Europeans? Yes the AFL has become a little sporting United Nations!
Maybe only a few, but theyre there!
I remember when people used to moan and groan and roll their eyes at all the "bleeding hearts" that spoke of creating a cultural melting pot, of caring and sharing, equity, and assimilation here in Australia. People were reluctant to allow immigration because they feared ghettos and segregation and racial tension. But here we are in the year 2009 and we see young men from a multitude of ethnic backgrounds having a go at playing footy.
This is a list of some current and former AFL players born in a country outside Australia or have at least one of their parents either born outside of Australia or of non-Australian ethnicity.
Thailand
Sudjai Cook (Adelaide)
South Korea
Peter Bell (Korean Mother, American Father)
India
Balraj Singh, Jade Cleary, Daniel Kerr (Indian Father)
Singapore
Paul Medhurst
Burma
Andrew Embley (Burmese father) (West Coast)
Chinese
Danny Seow (North Melbourne), Les Kew Ming (Collingwood/Melbourne), Wally Koochew (Carlton)
Turkey
Sedat Sir
Lebanon
Bachar Houli (Lebanese parents), Milham Hanna (Born in Lebanon to Lebanese parents)
Albania
Adem Yze (Melbourne)
Zimbabwe
Stephen Lawrence (Hawthorn), Ian Perrie (Adelaide)
New Zealand (Maori)
Brett Peake (part Maori), Paul Bower (part Maori)
Samoa
Aaron Edwards (Samoan mother, New Zealander father)
Papua New Guinea
Mal Michael, James Gwilt (Papua New Guinean mother), Winis Imbi
Fiji
David Rodan, Setanta Ó hAilpín (Fijian mother), Aisake O'hAilpin, Alipate Carlile
Tuvalu
Scott Harding (Tuvaluan mother)
Philippines
Mathew Stokes
South Africa
Damian Cupido, Ian Muller
Barbados
Joshua Gibson (North Melbourne)
Spain
Paul Licuria (Italian father, Spanish mother)
Chile
Daniel Segovia, Jose Romero (North Melbourne/Footscray)
Brazil
Heritier O'Brien (Afro-Brazilian from Rio de Janeiro) (Collingwood)
Serbia
Sam Kekovich
Switzerland
Matthew Leuenberger (Swiss father)
Lithuania
Jason Akermanis, Adam Ramanauskas
Russia
Salim Hassan, Bohdan Jaworskyj, Alex Jesaulenko
Macedonia
Peter Daicos, Peter Berbakov, John Gastev, Mark Nicoski, Nick Malceski
Netherlands
Robbert Klomp, Paul van der Haar, Richard Vandenberg, Nathan Van Berlo
Malta
Adam Attard, Jayden Attard, Tony Buhagiar, David Calthorpe, John Charles Formosa, Blake Grima, Adam Saliba
Poland
Brian Sierakowski, David Sierakowski, David Wojcinski, Justin Koschitzke, Phil Krakouer, Jim Krakouer, Mark Majerczak, Jason Porplyzia
Ukraine
Jason Daniltchenko, Alex Ishchenko, Bohdan Jaworskyj, Alex Jesaulenko (Carlton/St Kilda), Steven Kolyniuk, Steven Kretiuk, Justin Staritski, Shane Woewodin
Croatia
Jon Dorotich, Damien Gaspar, Darren Gaspar, Travis Gaspar, Brent Grgic, Ilija Grgic, Allen Jakovich, Glen Jakovich, Stephen Jurica, Ivan Maric, Matthew Pavlich, Val Perovic, Steven Salopek, Craig Starcevich, Peter Sumich, Jacob Surjan, Tomislav Butkovic, Marc Dragicevic, Alan Didak (Collingwood), Ray Gabelich (Collingwood), Adrien Barich (West Coast)
original list compiled by Wikipedia HERE
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Comment by Norm
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Comment by alt_ed
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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if only we could get the rest of the world to play it!
if only we could get Tom Cruise to play it . . .
hi alt_ed,
i think Doug Pollard over on the Rainbow Reporter blog has been speculating for some time that there is at least one fag in the AFL . . .
if all else fails there is always Shane Crawford as a rampant metrosexual!
if the NRL can have Ian Roberts im surprised the AFL hasnt produced someone equally gay just to compete!
Comment by Janet Collins
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Comment by Morgan Bell
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thanks for the encouragement!
i was surprised when i saw the Wiki list, it totally blew away my pre-conceptions . . . i think if football can be multi-cultural then theres hope for us all!
Comment by Mrs M
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MM
Comment by Morgan Bell
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thats good to hear
i think he is a great role model for young Lebanese men, and ive read he really looks up to Adem Yze from Melbourne who also has a muslim heritage
thanks for stopping by
i hope you get to write that book
Comment by PopPunkChroma
Comment by Morgan Bell
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hey credit where credit is due, that is a great pic of Heritier O'Brien . . . i actually got it from Wikipedia, but i see you are listed there as the original owner
Really Long Link
are you of Croatian descent?
Maric is a cutie, and Pavlich has a dark broody thing going on . . . they represent Croatia well, in looks and in talent!
is Collingwood your team?
Comment by PopPunkChroma
And I agree with you, they do represent Croatia well, Croatians should be hella proud of their hunks.
Maric is adorable, and Pavlich has the most incredible body and bone structure... he looks like a Greek God. I can just see him arriving at a costume party dressed as Zeus. It'd be totally fitting.
And yes, Collingwood is my team. What's yours?
Comment by Morgan Bell
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my family team (ie: my dads team) is Melbourne, i do still support them, but as an adult i now admit i prefer Essendon . . . im a Bomber at heart
Comment by Brian Clarke
Not sure if you are aware, but the Australian Football Harmony Cup (http://www.harmonycup.com) features teams from Melbourne's migrant communities and in 2010 we had players such as Adem Yze, Kouta & Libba take part.
The next Harmony Cup will take place on 20 March 2011. Hope to see you there!
Cheers,
Brian