Round 9 - sanfl

TheThere are certain things in thisworld that really chafe myfeather. I know my weekly column isusually fun, light-hearted andincredibly witty (cue the crickets),but this week something has throwna swarm of bees into my bonnet andgot me downright disappointed.There are certain things I see popup on the news that really pierce mysoul to its very core. But one thingthat really gets to me is news aboutracism. It amazes me that racism isso alive in today’s society.I know you’ve all read about itover the last week with the incidentinvolving Sydney Swan AdamGoodes and a 13-year-old girl.We’ve all witnessed it before, andwe know the stories from the pastsuch as Nicky Winmar’s famousmoment.Firstly, let me say that what I findperhaps the most disappointingthing from this story is the abusehurled at the 13-year-old after theevent from supporters of bothteams. Yes, she shouldn’t have saidwhat she did, it was offensive andGoodes was right to stand up forhimself and the way he handledhimself on and off the field in thehours following was honourable andinspirational. But for supporters toreact the way they did is deplorable.I’ve spoken to you before aboutcrowd behaviour, crude languageand abuse both to other supportersand to players. In reality, did theyoung girl really know that what shewas saying was racist? Probablynot. Like Goodes said, she’s not toblame; she was merely mimickingthose around her. She should knowbetter than to call people names, it’sone of the fundamentals of bullying“sticks and stones”. There is nodoubt that what she said was wrongand she should have been called upon it. But she should have beenPhantomthe ghost that talksRacism has no placetaken aside, explained why it waswrong, made to apologise just likeshe did and the story ends there –lesson learnt.What’s also concerning about thisevent are the stories that havecome out in the aftermath. Theother tales of racism and abusecoped by players and spectators.Look how far we have come –some of our greatest footballers areIndigenous and some of ourbiggest names in football comefrom other cultural backgrounds.We have amazing AFL players inSudanese Majak Daw, BrazilianHarry O’Brien, Fijian Alipate Carlileor Nigerian Joel Wilkinson. OrSANFL players such as AseriRaikiwasa and Emmanuel Irra; allbig names and heroes of today’syounger footy fans. We prideourselves on being a multi-culturalcountry, accepting other religions,cultures and races. Generation-X,Generation-Y and now Generation-Zs have grown up in this amazingcountry, where race or skin colourhas very little to do with who wemake friends with or the people weadmire. In fact, we are moreculturally aware today than everbefore, and the newer generationsembrace this – mostly. So I can’thelp but feel shocked when a13-year-old yells out a name at oneof our AFL greats. The fact oldergenerations are passing this on,and younger generations arepicking up words and racial slursthat most people their age havenever heard of, is the very thingthat will ruin our national’s socialacceptance.Compared to our past, racism onthe field is minimal and we rarelyhear of any overly offensive banterbetween players based on race. Butin the outfield, the story is verydifferent. It’s great the AFL and6SANFL have both come out andexpressed their ‘no-tolerance’approach to racism – it should betreated in the same way as abuse,fights and obnoxious behaviour,and this is exactly what theLeagues are doing.The SANFL released a mediarelease last week outlining itsstance on racism – it was titled‘SANFL CONDEMNS RACISIM’. Inthe release, SANFL GeneralManager Football Chris Davies said:‘‘The SANFL is uncompromising inits efforts to ensure every player,official and supporter who attendsa football game is not targetedbecause of their race, gender orbackground.‘’We pride ourselves on ourIndigenous programs as they arewidely recognised as leading theway in providing male and femaleAboriginal youth with pathways inemployment, education andmentoring.“The SANFL takes itsresponsibilities in this regard veryseriously and we will continue tohelp lead the way in stamping outthis type of abhorrent behaviour.’’I commend Goodes, the AFL andthe SANFL on their response to thissituation. There is no room forracism in our wonderful sport –these comments and out-datedbeliefs will not change the Leagues’stance on the issue, it will not alterthe players that get selected atLeague level or the champions ofour game. And I commend the13-year-old girl for her apologyletter and phone call to Goodes andCollingwood.So, I urge all supporters, playersand officials to stand up to thisissue within our sport – if you hearor see anything that is offensive toanother player or spectator, reportit. Don’t tolerate it. We all need towork together to help the SANFLand AFL eliminate crass behaviourin our sport.Please email or tweet yourthoughts with your name andsuburb through to The Phantom’sCave.Email: phantom@boylen.com.au.@SANFLBudget#sanflphantom