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Indigenous All Stars - more than just a footy match

Mark Arbib

by Mark Arbib

12 Feb 05:42am

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Filed under: Aborigines, Indigenous Affairs, Indigenous All Stars, Rugby League, Sport

30 comments

When the Indigenous All Stars run on to Skilled Park tomorrow night it won’t be just another game of football.

Champion team: the NRL Indigenous All Stars.

The game has been sold out for months and has been a dream of Indigenous league players and Indigenous people for decades.

For the indigenous players it’s about more than just rugby league – it’s a chance to represent and pay tribute to their communities and people. The game is a celebration of indigenous culture and has great symbolism, but equally important will be the profound effect it has on Indigenous youth.

The team of league’s best indigenous players have pledged themselves to supporting youngsters to stay in school and get an education.

Gold Coast Titan and All Star playmaker Scott Prince is leading the campaign and is a fantastic example. Prince grew up in Mount Isa and left the Western Queensland town after completing Year 10. He was lucky enough to get a scholarship with the North Queensland Cowboys and moved to Townsville.

Prince says he stayed on at school because of his love of rugby league. And even though he’s now one of the country’s most talented footballers he admits finishing year 12 was one of the best decisions of his life.

Education is something he’s passionate about and now he wants to inspire more young Indigenous Australians to follow his lead. The importance of education is clear. Completing year 12 and going on to an apprenticeship, TAFE course or university gives you the best chance to get a job.

And there is no doubt that the most important way of fighting poverty and social disadvantage in Indigenous communities is employment.

All of us grow up learning about life from the people around us. Our family, our friends and our teachers all help to motivate us and shape our lives. In some disadvantaged areas indigenous children don’t have these examples, living in families and communities where work is scarce and many of their parents, siblings and friends haven’t finished school. 

To drive the change and break the cycle of unemployment we need to build positive role models and mentors – that’s where the Indigenous All Stars can play a role.

Sport is a part of the Indigenous culture. In Indigenous communities sportsmen and women are worshipped and respected.

Rugby League has the potential to make great inroads because its great following in NSW and Queensland, where almost 60 per cent of Indigenous people live.

The Australian Government has formed a three-year partnership with the NRL and Indigenous All Stars, promoting the message “Learn. Earn. Legend!”.

The slogan is emblazoned on the players’ jerseys and will feature in a three-year campaign in Indigenous communities and schools.

Scott Prince is the first “Learn. Earn. Legend!” Ambassador and will work with the Government on the campaign.

Indigenous All Stars’ Captain Preston Campbell summed up the campaign perfectly when he said: “I am so proud that we are wearing the “Learn. Earn. Legend!” logo on our jersey to teach our kids to make the right choices.

“To stay at school and learn.
“To find a job or career to enable them to live their dreams. And through living their dreams to become a legend for the next generation.
“That is the special spirit all the boys will take onto the field when we play.”

It’s a simple message of change and hope. It’s a small part of the solution, but it shouldn’t be underestimated.

Most commented

30 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • John A Neve says:

      07:44am | 12/02/10

      Let’s bo honest about all this, the indigenous all stars footy match is just window dressing. Even the name is a joke all people born in a country are indigenous.
      What we really have, is a long standing social problem that no government is game to address. This problem will not be fixed by football matches.

      What is required is the break down of our two class system, all the time we attempt to address a non existent wrong, we will fail. Early Australians have access to government services just the same as any one else. Separation creates division and division creates envy.
      All the time early Australians are made and are seen to be different, we will be stuck with this situation.

      It’s about time we had a One Australia policy.

      Reply

    • iansand says:

      08:10am | 12/02/10

      But showing that success is possible regardless of ethnicity is one way of breaking a destructive cycle.  Every one of those players has worked hard and trained hard to achieve what they have.  Every one of them is proud of their ethnicity.  Not a bad message to send to Aboriginal kids and the rest of us.

    • Pete from Sydney says:

      08:41am | 12/02/10

      very positive John

    • Rai says:

      05:32am | 23/12/10

      Are we all the same or not? If the liberal left thinks Aboriginals are inferior to such an extent they need to be provided everything because they couldn’t possibly achieve it on their own, perhaps they should be leveling the finger and shrieking ‘racist’ at each other. Its a despicable attitude. The message should be that Aboriginals can achieve just as much as any other citizen, without being babied, and without being treated any differently. The message they recieve is that they are a ‘special’ class of people who are entitled to a life free from toil because they never stood a chance in the first place. How on earth are you going to pull yourself out of a ditch with that attitude? It sets them up for a life of making excuses and feeling sorry for themselves, two qualities which when displayed in a ‘regular’ person would leave you thinking very little of them.

    • Sean says:

      08:18am | 12/02/10

      I’m sorry and I’m sure this comment is going to get me in trouble but I don’t agree with this whole concept.  I also agree with John Neve that all people born in this country are indigenous.

      Separate football teams, health services, legal services, ABSTUDY even though done with the best of intentions, just increases the separation between Aboriginal & TI people and the rest of Australia. It reinforces an ‘us and them’ mentality

      Reply

    • stephen says:

      02:33pm | 12/02/10

      ‘Us and them’ indicates difference.
      Difference does not (necessarily) indicate heirarchy.
      Just different, and I think if one is constantly on the lookout for better or worse, a non-positive view of oneself may be the cause.

    • DG says:

      08:51am | 12/02/10

      The selection process for this game is no more or less arbitrary than the selection for the State of Origin games. It’s a novelty event - not some serious attempt at dividing the country, unless we count the “All Stars” as the away team.

      I suppose I should admit that I identify as an Aboriginal person. I’m a Wiradjuri man from Wellington, NSW. *Baladhu Wiradjuri gibir Wellington-ra* (I apologise to my Wiradjuri brothers and sisters, I am still learning the language and I think I have used the wrong suffix). That makes me no more or less Australian, I can be both without one superseding the other.

      It is interesting to note that Aboriginal is a race, not a nationality. For that reason your suggestion that they are somehow mutually exclusive fails - many Aboriginal people are proud Australians - some harbour resentment towards a country that they feel has dome them an injustice, and that’s fair enough too.

      As for divisions in society, we are divided divided in many ways gender, religion, socio-economic status, place of residence (shire, suburb or even street)... the list goes on. To many people it is an essential part of their identity, just as their nationality is part of their identity - see for example “state of origin”, people who support a football team and so on, people identify with any group of which they are a part, some will demonstrate aggression toward people who are not part of that group. It is inevitable. While taking away identity can lead to a more cohesive society - what is the value of a society filled with people without an identity or who are forced to share the one identity?

      As for the name “Indigenous”, it is used in preference to the word “Aboriginal” to include Torres Straight Islanders. Note the capital “I” rather than the lower case “i”. Just as the capital “A” in Aborigine (meaning the race) distinguishes from aborigine (the original inhabitant of a place), “Indigenous” is different to indigenous.

      I’ll be supporting my Indigenous brothers tomorrow night! Just as I’ll be supporting Sydney FC on Sunday.

      Reply

    • AFR says:

      08:51am | 12/02/10

      What started as a good concept has descended into a bit of a farce. Half the players have pulled out and their replacements are whiter than an albino Scotsman. And don’t get me started on the awful jerseys.

      Reply

    • strifer says:

      02:49pm | 12/02/10

      So unless they are visibly Indigenous by their skin colour, they aren’t Indigenous in your eyes?. Your comment shows the height of ignorance.

    • PG says:

      08:57am | 12/02/10

      I am pleased that the NRL are doing this. As a boy my Heros were the likes of Eric Sims Artie Beetson Cliffy Lyons and Larry Corowa. It is not only an acknowledgement of the present contributions of Indigenous but a belated recoognition of those dazzling players. With AFL superb marketing it has been able to claim Indigenous athletes as its own—In fact the first Indigenous VFL players arrived only in the early 1970s—I think there has not been a decade since 1908 where the silky skills of Indigenous Rugby league players have entertained and astounded us supporters

      Reply

    • Darren says:

      11:08am | 12/02/10

      agree about good players - but how long did you spend 2 school? Simms retired in 76 and Lyons did not start till 84!

    • acker says:

      09:12am | 12/02/10

      It is very positive, how about expanding it to an Isolated All Stars team as well, made up of players who played juniors in teams located more than 300km from a State or Territory Capital City. I’m sure some of the Indigenous All Stars would be in that side as well.

      Reply

    • Mick says:

      09:28am | 12/02/10

      Is having a game based on race a good idea, surely they could help the Indigenous people in a different way, sporst facilities, equipment, coaching etc….. although none of these would have the tv profile

      Afl do it as well

      Having the game based on race reminds me of Apartheid when you should just see players running around on the field, not colour & race

      Reply

    • COF says:

      09:44am | 12/02/10

      I like the concept, it gives us an excellent game of footy (hopefully) with some talented players on display, and its a celebration of a people with a long and proud heritage in this country, one that makes our country as a whole unique. Is there anything negative that can possibly be made from this?

      Just on the side, I thought Hodges was injured? I imagine Idris will be the starting centre. There are a lot of impact forwards there and not a lot of workers - the second half will be interesting. The backs are spectacular.

      Reply

    • Shawn says:

      10:07am | 12/02/10

      Im sure Im not the only one confused by the make up of the team, but surely the selectors should have picked some actual indiginous players?

      From my count there seems to be

      5 white men
      3 pacific islanders
      2 african americans
      2 Italians

      What is going on?

      Reply

    • DG says:

      10:31am | 12/02/10

      If my mother is Scottish and my father is Aboriginal. I am Aboriginal also. If my other happened to be of African extraction and my father Aboriginal, I would still be Aboriginal. If my father was a Pacific Islander and my mother Aboriginal, I would still be Aboriginal…

      Other ancestry does not remove my Aboriginal lineage.

      See where this is going?

    • John A Neve says:

      10:48am | 12/02/10

      DG,
      Your post reminds me of that old song about a “ticket to ride” that is what claiming to be “Aboriginal” is all about.

    • AFR says:

      10:53am | 12/02/10

      I agree with you DG, but some of the players surely have some tentative links with being Aboriginal. Bit like Ray Martin.

    • Sean says:

      11:18am | 12/02/10

      So DG are you also proud of being Scottish or is it just the Aboriginal part?

    • John says:

      11:57am | 12/02/10

      Would you people be happier if they were all wearing loin cloths and holding spears?  Here’s a message to our non-Indigenous countrymen: we are quite capable of deciding who is and isn’t Aboriginal or TI, we don’t need your opinions thanks.  The fact that a person is mixed does not take away their heritage.

      As far as a “ticket to ride” goes, yeah it’s so easy being Indiegnous these days, what with the high unemployment, low life expectancy, high incarceration rate etc etc, who wouldn’t want to be one?

    • John A Neve says:

      03:55pm | 12/02/10

      Ginger @ 1259hrs,

      Explain culture to me and while you are at, what have I said that
      is racist?

    • nic says:

      10:55am | 12/02/10

      Its all about pride. Nothing wrong in young aboriginal players being proud of themselves nor young aborigines being proud of who they are and what they represent.

      Reply

    • SLF says:

      11:44am | 12/02/10

      Surely this is the ultimate excercise in racial division?

      The whole thing is a mockery, especially some of the tenuous links to race, I read yesterday that PJ Marsh qualified as his great, great, great, great grandfather was Indigenous Australian. He knew nothing of his heritage until he wife suggested they do a family tree.  If that makes him Indigenous then having Mc in my name makes me a full blooded Scotsman.

      I agree that pride in your heritage is important, but I think there are better ways to express your pride than being divided along race grounds. Imagine if a school or club divided players into teams based on ethnicity….

      Reply

    • Ginger says:

      11:59am | 12/02/10

      I’d like to caveat my comment with the fact that I am not Aboriginal or TSI.
      Whoa, I cannot believe how racist some of these posts are. @ Shawn and @ John- your attitudes are totally racist.
      Did you even read the piece or did you just see the title of the piece and the players and decide to let loose on a racist tirade. Do you even know the process people have to go through (and these players have obviously gone through the same process) to be recognised as Aboriginal & TSI?
      Your attitudes are not welcome and I really hope neither of you are going to the game tomorrow. You both are ignorant and unless you are actively doing something that positively supports the improvement of education and empoyment opportunities for ALL Australians you should really not knock people who are.

      It’s way more than the colour of your skin- it’s cultural.

      Reply

    • Shawn says:

      03:52pm | 12/02/10

      A bit touchy there GInger, might be time for a nap?

      Fair cop about the cultural point you make, but would also be interested to hear full blooded Aborigine’s take on the make up of this team…

      In any case, I still think it would be a better spectacle if we could include some actual aboriginals on the indigenous team. Maybe I’m just old fashioned?

    • Sky says:

      01:10pm | 12/02/10

      Lets hope the kids (indigenous & non indigenous) actually understand the concept of the message and enjoy an excellent game of footy, because I think almost everybody here has missed the point.

      Reply

    • Anthony says:

      01:49pm | 12/02/10

      I’m positive an “Anglo-Australian” Match would not go down so well.

      Reverse racism at its finest.

      Reply

    • RB says:

      06:59pm | 13/02/10

      Spot on.But thats the new PC Australia isnt it…..

    • mona says:

      05:59pm | 12/02/10

      This isn’t about dividing Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, it’s about uniting them with footy. And it makes sense that once you pick an Indigenous side to pick a side for them to, you know, play.

      Why can’t we celebrate Indigenous culture?

      How is that racist or wrong?

      Reply

    • Tony G says:

      07:42am | 15/02/10

      If your going to hold an Indigenous match (which in this country means Aboriginal or TSI ONLY) then the players should ALL BE JUST THAT, which clearly they are NOT. Pacific islanders are NOT Indigenous and neither are red haired or Chinese named persons. The idea was a great thing but the outcome was a farcical disgrace.

      Reply
 
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