Social inclusion is a subject we regularly address within the Community Matters column, and this time we head further afield to Australia, a country reknowned for its laid back culture. And Down Under they have turned to the beautiful game to help solve social issues. Enter Football United.

“Football United was initially set up as a research project into community engagement at the University of New South Wales by Anne Bunde-Birouste,” explained communications manager Stuart Meney.

“Over the last five years Football United has developed into a community project engaging thousands of community members from across Australia. According to Federal Government research there is a gap in access to mainstream sport for migrant communities. Football United exists to fill that gap.”

Australia as a country has a history of immigration dating back to the arrival of Europeans. It is now one of the most diversely populated places on the planet, with migrants arriving not only from different parts of Europe but also the Middle East, Southern Africa, South America and Asia. All this within a relatively young country would always cause teething problems.

“Australia is a new country with diverse cultures coming together that lends itself to issues of inclusion. In the last 250 years Australia has developed at an alarming rate and an incredibly wide variety of cultures now call Australia home,” said Meney.

“From the Aboriginal Australians who called this land home long before Europeans arrived; British and Irish influences, Italian, Greek and Eastern European mass migration, Pacific Island, Vietnamese and more recently Indian and Chinese as well as an influx of humanitarian refugees from the Horn of Africa, West Africa, Afghanistan and the Middle East.

“ It’s a beautifully diverse mix, but can also lead to social disharmony. This is the crux of where Football United works; when football is involved, cultural differences evaporate and team-mates, common goals and inclusive tactics are more important.”

BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS

A report undertaken by the Federal Government identified that there was a gap in mainstream sport for many poorer migrants in Australia. The main factors for this were travel constraints, registration costs and nepotism in association clubs. A core part of Football United’s work is to eradicate such barriers.

There are five key activities that Football United undertakes, the first being “regular, free and accessible football training”. Secondly, working with communities and community organizations including schools, migrant resource centres, local councils and community leaders in order to increase dialogue and increase inclusion.

Next, FFA (Football Federation Australia) coaching, education and youth leadership skill workshops for disengaged youths, this includes both formal and informal mentoring, which then allows them to coach and coordinate projects within their own community.

Fourthly, Football United undertake groundbreaking academic research into the benefits of using football to improve social cohesion, as well as special development opportunities such as the Digital Connections social media development project. This is a project with Australian film director Phillip Noyce and involves increasing participant sharing between regions by using film, media and social networks.

So Football United take their work, and future development very seriously, and seeing as sport has always been a big part of Australian culture, this is probably not surprising.

“It is vitally important to have access to sport,” said Meney. “Football United promotes and allows health and fitness benefits, regular interactions with friends from your community, cultural exchange, competitiveness, discipline, teamwork and community participation. The list is almost endless.”

FRENCH CONNECTION

There is still an elephant in the room however; Football isn’t that popular in Australia is it?

“Despite what you may hear, the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that this code of football has the highest participation figures of any code in Australia,” explained Meney. “Our founder, Anne Bunde-Birouste was made aware of the power of football to connect people when the multi-cultural 1998 French squad won the World Cup, inspiring millions to get out on to the street to celebrate, regardless of their background or status.”

It was this triumph of Les Bleus that led Bunde-Birouste to look closer to home to see where she could try and create a similar outcome amongst the multicultural residents of Sydney.

“The Football United story kicked off through consultations with Sydney’s Sudanese and Middle East communities who suggested football was the ideal vehicle to promote community engagement,” Meney described.“A unique football culture exists today, with at last count 48 different nationalities were represented in the ranks of Football United programs. Major structural happenings, including the Socceroos’ World Cup appearances, the A-League’s ongoing development and membership into the Asian Football Confederation continue to mould the nature of football in this country.”

FINDING THE FUNDS

But whilst there is no problem with popularity and passion for football Down Under, obstacles come in another expected area for a charity of this nature.

“Funding. The amount of time and resources going into sourcing and writing and ticking boxes for funding opportunities is incredible, especially considering the amount of money exchanging hands in the world of football,” said Meney.

“Also, making governments aware of the benefits of collaborative cross departmental projects; Football United easily fits under Sports, Education and/or Immigration which, despite looking ideal from the outside, can prove challenging.”

Meney also cites the ability to meet demand for projects as an obstacle.

He added: “Currently eight projects are delivered across New South Wales and projects are planned for Queensland, Victoria and, imminently, South Australia. There are scores of other opportunities and requests from communities to deliver projects there; unfortunately there isn’t the funding or human resources available. Yet.”

FESTIVAL FOR HOPE

Despite these issues the organisation has enjoyed some real high moments, and Meney is quick to relive them.

“In 2010 we were selected to send a team to South Africa to represent Australia at the Football Festival for Hope. The team – made up primarily of refugees – came home a valiant 4^th in a 32 team tournament,” he said, clearly delighted.

“In saying that, the regular football coaching sessions that are delivered each week by an army of volunteers and youth coaches is an achievement in itself.

“Some of the players who joined Football United a few years ago on their arrival without speaking a word of English are now coordinating projects, attaining FFA Coaching qualifications and inspiring the next wave of youth in their community.”

That is an incredible achievement for an organisation that started out just five years ago as a University study.

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Now Football United is looking to become multimedia with their Digital Connections Project, as well as expanding to Adelaide before heading out across the country. Football United is definitely on the radar Down Under, and it could be only a matter of time before the Socceroos start to benefit from the work being undertaken.