Former Adelaide Crows star Andrew McLeod says the AFL’s efforts to stamp out racism are the key to the huge rise in indigenous participation in the league during his career.
McLeod, who has joined the AFL as a community engagement and talent coordinator post-retirement, was speaking ahead of flying to Geneva to address a United Nations forum on racism in sport.
The proportion of indigenous players rose from four per cent when McLeod made his AFL debut in 1995 to 11 per cent when he retired last year.
The indigenous 340-game, dual Norm Smith Medallist, said it was no coincidence that increase followed the introduction of racial vilification policies in 1995.
“I think (indigenous players) are a lot more comfortable,” McLeod said on Monday.
“When it got tough many years ago when (racism) was quite prevalent, the easiest thing to do was pack up and go home.
“Now they can come in and through the education system behind it, everybody knows where they stand.
“There’s certainly none of that around at all.
“It’s given an opportunity for guys to come into the system and be on a level playing field.
“It was something that the AFL might have been a little bit slow in developing, but certainly over the last 10 years or so it’s become world’s best practice when it comes to combatting racism.”
McLeod said his UN talk would be about the AFL’s policies, as well as the important role former indigenous AFL stars such as Michael Long and Nicky Winmar played in standing up to racism, which helped lead to a culture change in the code.
“Those acts certainly made it a lot easier for someone like myself coming into the system.”
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
More in IC11 from the AFL website: http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/107353/default.aspx Two games will feature as curtain raisers to AFL games, including the grand final. One other game will feature as a curtain raiser to the Swans game at ANZ.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
Good article on the newest addition to the Australian Football family: Switzerland: http://www.worldfootynews.com/article.php/20110125082025194
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
AFL Europe has just announced that the 2011 9-a-side Euro Cup has been awarded to the city of Belfast, Northern Ireland. http://www.worldfootynews.com/article.php/20110206101718521#comments The next full-field European Championships will be held in Dublin in 2013.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
33 mens and womens teams have nominated for the 2011 Australian Football International Cup, to be staged in Sydney and Melbourne in August this year. http://www.worldfootynews.com/article.php/20110205174339439#comments Countries participating for the first time include Indonesia, Italy, France, Vanuatu, Iceland, Fiji, East Timor, Croatia, Switzerland and Tonga. There will be a women's section for the first time, with nominations from PNG, US, Canada and Italy.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
Here's a good story of four Canadians, from the Ontario Australian Football League, venturing to Australia this coming footy season to further their footy education playing with local amateur clubs. Their backgrounds happen to be as diverse as Jamaican, Filipino and Venezuelan. http://www.worldfootynews.com/article.php/20110131041403719
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
27 footy scholarships been offered to PNG students in 2011: http://www.worldfootynews.com/article.php/20110129102133546
Redb
Roar Guru
Which was trumped by Andrew McLeod's speech to the UN. http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/107012/default.aspx
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
Andrew Demetriou's message to the UN: http://www.worldfootynews.com/index.php It makes one proud to be Australian.
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
It's still a silly comparison. This article, quotes the indigenous participation rate in AFL (the NRL rate is marginally higher). Then someone out of the blue says the percentage of Afro-Americans in the NFL is higher. Great - but they aren't indigenous, so it's a pointless comparison. That's before we even get to the issue that Jaredsbro mentions below, which I too was going to touch on, but it's far too complicated a subject for an Australian to tackle.
Jaredsbro
Roar Guru
Sorry I gotta comment on this kinda ignorance. As has been said African Americans are not indigenous, but there's far more to it than that. African Americans have perhaps the longest continuous (and I mean day after day for centuries) racism possible in the 1st world. And their history as plantation slaves and their integration into the NFL are part of the same long trend of treating African Americans by in large as workhorses and of course these days uber-athletic studs perhaps. It isn't a fair or non-racist system just because of playing numbers Aborigines in Australia had huge problems too...and of course the VFL was responsible not only for prohibiting them from playing for most of its history, but players and staff have all treated them (and perhaps like the African-Americans still do) as living machines...and they're acting as PR machines these days too. The comparison with the NFL is silly, it's like saying a kick in the gut is something you should be more proud of than a punch in the head. Finally RL or RU for that matter are actually sports where Aborigines' cultures may actually be of more benefit to s team, even if they're not as instinctive at the Rugby codes. I mean this, because Aborigines are still the longest of underdogs in Australian society, and the Rugbies for mine give of Australia's indigenous peoples a far better shot. Basically the AFL had to change, but RL and RU actually saw some intrinsic value in change.
clipper
Guest
A more direct comparison would be the percentage of Maori playing Rugby and whether it has increased compared to the percentage of population.
Redb
Roar Guru
True Tah, exactly my point.
Jason
Roar Guru
ATSI makes up over 2% of Australia's population. (abs.gov.au) If they have a participation rate of ~11% in the AFL, that is remarkably similar to the relative proportion of African Americans within the NFL (~13% of the population and ~70% of the players). I agree that the NFL is doing marvellous work combating racism for Polynesians by offering them jobs based on their athletic ability, just like the AFL is doing for Aboriginals...
True Tah
Guest
Jason Aboriginal Australians make up 1% of Australia's population African-Americans make up 12% of USA's population. If you want to see overrepresentation, look at how many Polynesians play in the NFL relative to their % of population
Jason
Roar Guru
'The article mentions the percentage of indigenous participation in the AFL, and the article pretty much focuses on indigenous matters.' An article talking about the experience of an Aboriginal and the progress of a code in addressing racism is going to mention indigenous experiences in combating racism within the code. That you need this pointed out to you is baffling. 'Jerry said a higher percentage of Afro-americans play NFL.' And they do. Are you contesting that they suffered from racism? You know, the reason Andrew McLeod 'flying to Geneva to address a United Nations forum on racism in sport'? 'I said Afro-Americans are not indigenous, so it was silly to point to their participation numbers in the NFL.' Once again: The issue is racism in sport. Indigenous people in Australia suffer(ed) from racism. Same with African American people in the USA, who suffered endemic racism.
Jason
Roar Guru
And they make up a far larger percentage of people playing their game. What part of my post did you have difficulty understanding?
Redb
Roar Guru
You keep repeating yourself, but are not open to do some research.
Jerrys Plain
Guest
"African-Americans make up a far larger percentage of the USA population compared to indigenous pop in Australia" So what? Did they too not suffer centuries of racism and oppression in their own country including in the NFL until recent times?
MyLeftFoot
Roar Guru
The article mentions the percentage of indigenous participation in the AFL, and the article pretty much focuses on indigenous matters. Jerry said a higher percentage of Afro-americans play NFL. I said Afro-Americans are not indigenous, so it was silly to point to their participation numbers in the NFL.
Jerrys Plain
Guest
Understand what? The AFL was a racist sport? It wasn't. The low % was because there aren't many Aboriginal communities in Victoria compared to NSW and Queensland where RL has had a steady 11% for decades and certainly no systematic racism. AFL only woke up recently. But so what. The NFL shows the way and its a long long way ahead of AFL.