WorkSafe AFL Victoria Country Record Article (NO.15)
2016 Multicultural Round
Football communities across the country will celebrate its cultural diversity in the 2016 Toyota AFL Multicultural Round.
Held from July 7-10, the dedicated round highlights the contribution multicultural communities have made to the game’s history and welcomes new communities to embrace Australian Football as fans, players, umpires and administrators.
This weekend, several community leagues and clubs, along with the Peter Jackson VFL, Swisse VFL Women’s and TAC Cup clubs are joining in the celebrations.
Across Victoria, there are a number of fantastic multicultural and indigenous programs which continue to bring people from all backgrounds and walks of life together.
Programs including Laguntas, Kickstart, Multicultural School Programs, Towards Zero Diversity Squads and the All Nations high-performance team are enabling more young talent to be identified and have access to more opportunities to become the next crop of AFL stars.
In its third year, the AFL Victoria Multicultural Community Ambassador Program has doubled in size to grow to 160 participants this season, while the annual Unity Cup carnival had more than 300 players lacing up the boots this year.
In the lead up to Multicultural Round, AFL Victoria held its third annual Six Nations carnival which brought together six Towards Zero Diversity Squads from around the state.
With the addition of the a new Werribee-based Towards Zero Diversity Squad and an inaugural Geelong Falcons Youth Girls squad this year, the Towards Zero Diversity Squad program continues to lead the way as one of the most rapid programs, growing to over 200 participants in the last four seasons.
Through the tireless work of our Region Commissions and Metropolitan leagues, AFL Victoria continues to work hard to ensure all aspiring footballers, both male and female, are afforded an introduction to the game that will hopefully evolve into a long term connection.
This weekend, AFL Victoria encourages everyone to embrace Multicultural Round and remember that Australian Football is a game for everyone, no matter who you are or where you’re from.
Football is all the richer for our diverse community’s participation and involvement.