Somali migrants will stage the inaugural Australian-Somali football championships in Melbourne next week, writes Robert Fedele.
For the Somali community soccer is a way of life. In the backstreets of Flemington children thrust their heads at, and juggle, the round ball over and over.
It's the way it was back home and little has changed in Australia, says young Somali leader Abdiirisak Artan.
"Soccer is always our passion wherever we are," the 20-year-old says.
"It's our key sport. It plays an integral part in our society."
So much so that Mr Artan is now using the world game as a tool to help strengthen and unite the local African community.
This week, the inaugural Australian Somali football championships will be held in Flemington and Kensington.
The five day round-robin tournament has attracted a pool of eight teams including four interstate teams and local squads including Carlton, Broadmeadows, Heidelberg/Reservoir, and North Melbourne/Flemington.
Mr Artan is chairman of the Australian Somali Football Association (ASFA).
He hatched the plan for the championships with a long-term goal of bringing the World Somali football championships to Melbourne in years to come.
A predominantly Victorian-sourced team competed at this year's championships in Sweden in July. Next year's event will be in Canada.
"We were sitting around and said we need to find a way to bring the international cup to Melbourne," Mr Artan says. "Essentially, this is a World Cup bid."
The following two years will be used as a stepping stone to launch a bid to become host in 2012 or beyond.
"We're hoping we can grow this year. This is a learning curve for us, the first time the Somali soccer championships have ever been held in Australia. We're hoping for success this year and the following year and by 2012 we'll get in contact with the international committee and put in a proposal."
But while there is much at stake on the pitch, Mr Artan says the tournament itself carries a much greater purpose off-field.
Like many others in the Somali community, Mr Artan and his family came to Australia in 2002 as refugees.
It followed eight years spent in New Zealand and time in a UN camp in Kenya before that, to escape a country at war.
Mr Artan was a toddler when it all unfolded. He remembers little about his place of birth, but that didn't stop him becoming a youth advocate for the Somali community in his adopted homeland. In October, he was named Moonee Valley Citizen of the Year for developing a program to inspire young people to move away from violence and understand the benefits of education and employment.
In his own community at Flemington's commission flats, Mr Artan believes soccer can be the catalyst to establishing positive pathways for the next generation. "The Somali community is a disadvantaged community in Australia. We are migrants and refugees. Our passion lies with sport and, in particular, soccer. We thought it was the best way to engage the community."
Mr Artan says issues with youth crime in the area can be curbed by encouraging other alternatives, such as sport. Sometimes kids just need a nudge in the right direction, he adds.
"That [the crime] is obviously because of a lack of resources and a lack of support for the community, which [in the past] resulted in young kids sitting around doing nothing.
"The only option they thought they had at the time was to commit acts of crime, robberies and thefts. We really need to engage the community before we start to address the key problems. Having a soccer tournament like this is the start."
The inaugural Australian Somali football championships are from December 26-30. Qualifiers will be played at Debney Park, Flemington, from December 26-28, with finals at JJ Holland Park in South Kensington from December 29-30.
Like many others in the Somali community, Mr Artan and his family came to Australia in 2002 as refugees.
It followed eight years spent in New Zealand and time in a UN camp in Kenya before that, to escape a country at war.
Mr Artan was a toddler when it all unfolded. He remembers little about his place of birth, but that didn't stop him becoming a youth advocate for the Somali community in his adopted homeland. In October, he was named Moonee Valley Citizen of the Year for developing a program to inspire young people to move away from violence and understand the benefits of education and employment.
In his own community at Flemington's commission flats, Mr Artan believes soccer can be the catalyst to establishing positive pathways for the next generation. "The Somali community is a disadvantaged community in Australia. We are migrants and refugees. Our passion lies with sport and, in particular, soccer. We thought it was the best way to engage the community."
Mr Artan says issues with youth crime in the area can be curbed by encouraging other alternatives, such as sport. Sometimes kids just need a nudge in the right direction, he adds.
"That [the crime] is obviously because of a lack of resources and a lack of support for the community, which [in the past] resulted in young kids sitting around doing nothing.
"The only option they thought they had at the time was to commit acts of crime, robberies and thefts. We really need to engage the community before we start to address the key problems. Having a soccer tournament like this is the start."
The inaugural Australian Somali football championships are from December 26-30. Qualifiers will be played at Debney Park, Flemington, from December 26-28, with finals at JJ Holland Park in South Kensington from December 29-30.
Source: MooneeValleyWeekly.com.au
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