By ADEM SARICAOGLU
TAYLORS Lakes young gun Zain Siddique is on a quest that requires as much commitment off the field as he gives on it.
Siddique, who is of Pakistani heritage, wants to see more of his fellow ethnic buddies taking up the game he fell in love with.
While Siddique does already have many contemporaries, he believes there should still be many more.
“There’s not enough multicultural kids playing the game at the moment and that’s because they’re either afraid or their parents are not supporting them,” Siddique explained.
“It’s because they haven’t grown up here and watched the game and played it and because of that they’re not sure about it, and that’s a bit like me.
“My parents weren’t the biggest supporters of me, but it’s a great way of making friends and fitting into society, especially if you’re a new arrival.”
For Siddique, convincing his parents, and now his school mates to adopt the native game of a foreign land hasn’t come easy.
And while Siddique believes the AFL is making progress in those stakes through programs like the Bachar Houli Academy, he hopes those numbers will continue to rise more steadily into the future.
“At the moment it’s really good because I’d say about a couple of years ago all these squads and clinics didn’t exist for the multicultural kids,” Siddique said.
“Now it’s starting to include us but I still believe there’s not enough. There should be more kids playing footy.
“Especially with the Pakistanis – when we have a gathering they talk to me about how their parents are a bit lazy and they don’t want them to play AFL.
“They think it’s a bit too rough so they just want to play cricket and stuff like that.”
Siddique himself had to give up cricket as he rose through the ranks at Taylors Lakes, even catching the eyes of Western Jets scouts throughout the past few seasons.
In 2013 his club’s senior EDFL Division One rival, the Northern Saints, surprised many to win the grand final over Glenroy and earn promotion to the league’s Premier Division.
Though his Lions were knocked out during the finals series, Siddique admits he was full of pride when the Saints – a flashy, high-scoring side brimming with talented players of many different ethnicities – won their inaugural flag.
“I was really excited when I saw them winning the grand final because I’ve never seen this happen before,” Siddique said.
“All these multicultural players gathering together and winning a premiership, it’s unbelievable. And I believe this can happen with any club, whether it be Taylors Lakes, Pascoe Vale, Keilor or any club.”
