Many cultures, one game

The GIANTS will host the inaugural Many Cultures match against Melbourne this Saturday at Skoda Stadium to celebrate the cultural diversity of Western Sydney.

“It’s a big game out here for us because, other than Melbourne coming up, it’s a day for us for Many Cultures,” said GWS GIANTS coach Kevin Sheedy.

“Nobody in Melbourne would realise we’ve got that many nationalities living in the west of Sydney.

“We’ve really got to build this up to a sell-out crowd eventually and welcome everybody here.

“600,000 people have come into the west of Sydney and we’ve got the make sure that they connect with AFL and get to see it.

“Every time I talk to people who have come from around the world, when they actually see a game, they really enjoy it and that’s one of the good things about having a team playing at Homebush and here at Skoda Stadium.

“By introducing a game like this against Melbourne it’s a great opportunity to get the rest of Australia involved in growing our game.”

The GIANTS, in partnership with the Multicultural Youth Affairs Network, have invited refugee and new migrant youth to attend the match. Students from local secondary schools in Western Sydney will also present cultural performances at the game.

As part of the match day activities, the Gaelic Athletic Association will also play a special curtain raiser match between NSW and Victoria.

Sydney Swans Premiership player and AFL International Talent Coordinator Tadhg Kennelly joined Sheedy and members of the Auburn Tigers women’s team at Skoda Stadium yesterday to launch the match.

“Western Sydney is an area with so many different cultures,” Kennelly said.

“We want to introduce them to the game of AFL and why not introduce them to Greater Western Sydney who are representing the game of AFL out here.

“When I first came out here I suppose Sydney itself really, we never exposed western Sydney to the game.

“We’ve got a new club here and it’s getting bigger and greater.

“I’m an international footballer, I came from the other side of the world and I know how difficult it is to expose the game of AFL to Sydney.

“I have a soft spot for GWS, they’re the second team in Sydney and I’m very proud to be a Sydney person.”

In 2011 Amna Karra-Hassan and Lael Kassem set up the Auburn Tigers, the first women’s AFL team in western Sydney. The team includes a number of Muslim women from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Kassem said the introduction of the women’s team has exposed AFL to groups of people that have never seen a game before.

“We’ve had three seasons of footy and for the majority of the seasons we’ve had girls who didn’t know what AFL was and had never watched a game before, didn’t know any of the rules of what AFL was, and introduced them to the game,” she said.

“Ever since they watched the first game and played the first game they’ve loved it and they’ve loved every game since.

“We do struggle to win but I think because the game is so great and they love the game itself, winning isn’t all for us, it’s just coming and enjoying the game and learning a lot more about the game.

“It’s opened up AFL to a whole different community.”

Click here to get your tickets to the Many Cultures match between the GWS GIANTS and Melbourne Demons this Saturday, August 3 – 1.45pm at Skoda Stadium.