World Footy News

The Under 15 players in cairns competing in the National Diversity Championships certainly present an amazing spread of heritage and culture. Whilst the Kickstart squad is comprised of players with indigenous Australian backgrounds, the All nations squad has the criteria that one or both parents had to be born overseas (or the player themselves) to qualify.

On that criteria, the spread of multicultural talent is quite astonishing, and a pointer to the future uptake of Australian Rules football.

Throughout a series of interviews conducted at the championships, accompanied by information provided in the official record booklet, the list includes (but is not limited to):

Mexico, Myanmar (Burma), South Korea, Cambodia, Vanuatu, Afghanistan, France, Sudan, Congo, Lebanon, South Africa, Burundi, Cameroon, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Samoa, Kenya, Zimbabwe, England, Egypt.


That is 20 countries in the above list from all across Asia, Africa, Oceania, North America, parts of Europe and more that simply didn’t come up in conversations or reach print stage.

On that basis alone the All Nations Cup, whilst ostensibly accommodating players already living in Australia, also lends itself enormously to the growth of international football. As word gets out worldwide (such as this story) of how culturally and nationally wide the uptake is in multicultural communities across Australia (all six states and both territories are involved), it follows that there will be some level of knock on to those people linked overseas.

These boys can be proud of their efforts here in Cairns at the National Diversity Championships, representing the All Nations banner. But their parents and communities are likely just as proud. Some commentators point to a tenuous concept of multicultural footy in this country, largely due to the criteria on which selection is based.

But try telling that to their kids…or their parents…or the communities here and overseas that are BLOODY proud of these kids and their achievements to embrace the game and travel so far on a journey towards to higher levels of the game.

(The picture at the top of this article was taken today at Cazalys Stadium in Cairns. It shows members of the Queensland All Nations team wearing donated jumpers from overseas clubs, provided on the day by local club Pyramid Power. It is a symbiotic gesture linking the All nations players to existing football clubs across the world.)