Good mix … Players involved in the Inter-AMES (Adult Multicultural Education Services) Football Carnival at Whitten Oval. 66503 Picture: Damjan Janevski
By Liam Twomey
THE Western Bulldogs Football Club has held the 4th Annual Inter-AMES (Adult Multicultural Education Services) Football Carnival – which has seen over 100 male and female students from countries such as Burma, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Poland, India and Sudan participate in football matches.
The carnival follows a six-week introduction to football program where ambassadors at AMES centres worked with newly arrived students to Australia and help them learn skills both on and off the field, which will assist them in day-to-day Australian life.
Coinciding with Refugee Week, the program aimed to teach participants about the basics of Australian culture through Australian Rules.
Students are given the opportunity to interact with others in a similar position to them. They can improve their English through social interaction with students from other classes and centres as well as learn life skills through teamwork during matches.
Nish Moses, who is the AFL Multicultural Development Officer, said participants enjoyed learning the skills of AFL.
“A few participants have inquired about joining local footy clubs after the program was over,” Moses said.
We had one guy come through who was from Afghanistan and wanted to keep playing. We were able to direct him to a local club.”
This year has seen the program continue to grow with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade signing on as a major sponsor.
“It’s been great to have the MFB on board this year.”
The MFB have added to the education of players by providing a fire safety seminar as part of their work with the program. Together with the Western Bulldogs, they also sponsored the provision of special Western Bulldogs jumpers for the players to wear.
A number of past participants are returning in coaching roles to help work with participants by giving them the benefit of their experiences in the program. Moses said it was a great aspect to have former students coming back in a coaching capacity.
“That is something that we set out to achieve when we were first setting it up,” Moses said.
The results of this year’s carnival were close in both and men’s and women’s matches.
In the women’s, St Albans/Footscray 2.3 (15) defeated Werribee/Sunshine 0.3 (3), with Seenual Pongbannai named best on ground for the winners.
In the men’s match, Werribee/Sunshine 2.8 (20) defeated Footscray/St Albans 3.1 (19) in a nail-biting encounter.
Players involved in the matches were presented with trophies by Bulldogs’ player Daniel Giansiracusa, who is the AFL’s national multicultural programs ambassador.
