World Footy News

Whether or not Cairns Muslim kids ever take up Australian Rules footy is a question that can’t yet be answered one way or the other. It’s too early. But one certainty is that the chances of them giving the game a go have grown after the AFL Diversity unit, in conjunction with AFL Cairns Juniors, Footys4all, Ross Faulkner and the Pyramid Power junior club met with the Cairns Muslim community on the weekend.

With donated giveaways for the kids and time to chat with parents and interested parties, AFL Cairns made great strides in connecting with the local Islamic community. With the tremendous support of the Mosque’s Imaam Abdul Aziz the community and the football code came together. The first seeds were planted for Muslim kids to perhaps pursue our indigenous game.

The gulf between dream and reality is wide. Quite apart from the cultural and religious considerations that must be respected when bringing sport, community and religion together, there is the question of number. As the Imaam points out, the Cairns Muslim community is small, numbering around 200 people. The Mosque in Mareeba, to the west of Cairns has roughly the same number. The amount of children within that is small. The amount of children not already linked to sports like soccer, basketball or the rugby codes is smaller still.

The dreams of the AFL Diversity unit, and local football, would begin with Muslim kids joining local clubs and perhaps coming together to conduct a Cairns based version of the Bachar Houli Cup. To see the next Bachar Houli or Adem Saad come from Cairns would be the zenith of the dream.

But the reality will be much more humble. It will start with a special AFL Gala Day, planned for March, where activities will be held for kids to get a taste of the game. Handball targets, small kicking and marking drills and other fun games will be laid out to encourage a “have a go” feel to the event. With the support of parents, and AFL Cairns staff, the more immediate goal is for some of these kids to like what they see and possibly take the first plunge by joining their school footy teams. From there, who knows.

Should enough kids consider taking the game on, there is a very real possibility to expand interest west to Mareeba and possibly explore options to link with Islamic communities in other North Queensland centres such as Townsville or Mackay. These dreams can remain in place, as long as the reality is not forgotten. The visit this weekend was simply a starting point and much work, patience, commitment and understanding needs to take place over time.

Nevertheless, the seeds have been planted and it will be interesting to see what will grow.

The one certainty is that the weekend’s visit stands as the first concrete step. It is the building of a foundation that now needs to be carefully and respectfully developed on the basis of community, understanding, involvement and above all – fun.

As the Imaam said so eloquently, this is about the children and giving them every possibility to have fun and be involved in community. If this AFL enterprise can succeed in that small goal then it will already be a success. Anything beyond that will be a bonus for all concerned.