TOGETHER AS ONE – the spirit of the Multicultural Football ProgramBy the Program’s coordinator, Nick Hatzoglou.Combating the isolation of cultural groupsAustralian Football has a unique capacity to capture the hearts and minds of people of all walks of life. Melbourne is recognised worldwide as a multicultural city. Almost one million of the city’s 3.4 million people are from overseas.Implementing a multicultural plan based around Football is not without its hurdles. Taking into consideration the problems of communication, transport, cultural background and getting to know how to play Australian Football, winning the confidence of young players and their families can be quite challenging.We can learn a lot from the European migration to Australia experience in the 1960s and ‘70s, and apply it to today’s environment. We should be able to do it better now than then. One of the biggest differences in today’s environment is the much more varied and diverse amount of options people have with their leisure pursuits. It is not just Australian Football, cricket or tennis any more. Therefore, sports have to be more strategic in their approach.It has been well identified by the Victorian Multicultural Commission and the AFL that newly arrived immigrant and refugee people are placed at a great social disadvantage when they first migrate to Australia. They often feel disconnected and isolated from Australian social experiences. We hope the Multicultural Football Program will combat this level of isolation and encourage refugees and immigrant young people to become involved with Australian Football and its wider community. It can become the glue that brings communities together.The role that Australian Football has played in the ethnic communities needs to be celebratedOver the years, we have seen some familiar names not only grace our playing fields but they have been proud to promote and share their ethnicity.Consider these great names from the past: Ron Barassi, Peter Daicos, Carl Ditterich, Robert DiPierdomenico, Glen Jakovich, Alex Jesaulenko, Sam Kekovich, Tony Liberatore, Wayne Schimmelbusch, Sergio and Stephen Silvagni, Paul Van Der Haar and Murray Weideman to name a few.Then you have today’s stars, including Scott Camporeale, Josh Francou, Anthony Koutoufides, Daniel Giansiracusa, Angelo Lekkas, Paul Licuria, Matthew Pavlich, Simon Prestigiacomo, Peter Riccardi,Mark Ricciuto, Nick Riewoldt, Saverio and Anthony Rocca, Richie Vandenberg and Brett and Michael Voss, who have all made significant contributions to Football.Even the AFL’s chief executive Andrew Demetriou, hails from an ethnic background, being the son of Cypriot parents who migrated to Australia more than 50 years ago.Therefore, it is not surprising that the AFL, together with AFL Victoria, have established a Multicultural Football Program in partnership with the Department for Victorian Communities to engage people from diverse cultural backgrounds to broaden both the participation and fan base in AustralianFootball.Recently, I was appointed the Multicultural Football Project Coordinator to develop and implement a community-building program involving young people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities throughout Victoria.Strong working relationships with other agencies dealing with multicultural programs that will complement the Multicultural Football Program are already in motion. We will earnestly strive together to bring all of our community members “together as one”.Nick Hatzoglou, Multicultural Football Project Co-ordinatorNick can be contacted at the AFL on (03) 9643 1928 or at AFL Victoria on (03) 8663 3071