User:Spenopoly/sandbox

Australian rules football has a long and storied connection with multiculturalism that has continued into the modern era. Widely considered to have originated from an amalgamation of codes and influences, notably rugby, the Indigenous game of Marngrook (though the legitimacy of this connection is hotly debated) and potential Gaelic influences, the code itself is a product of shared cultural influences. However, the game has also at several points throughout history been the subject to racial and cultural division both at local and professional levels. Despite this, in more recent times multiculturalism has been touted as one of the strengths of the code with even official support by the main governing body of the sport in the AFL, which ran an annual ‘multicultural round’ that lasted from 2005 until the 2017 season in celebration of diversity within the sport. The AFL has also pushed for greater inclusion of recent migratory arrivals at local and development levels as part of its community efforts and has longstanding commitments to the indigenous involvement in the sport. However, despite these efforts, the legitimacy of the code's claim to multiculturalism remains in question.

Early history
Despite emerging as a new code in the late 19th century, built from a concoction of influences, from rugby, to keeping summer cricketers fit, to the potential indigenous influence to the game, those that adopted the game proved far from diverse. Players of the game were almost exclusively European in origin, the large majority with British heritage, until well into the 20th century and the sport is still dominated by those with Anglo-centric backgrounds. Despite this, there were still small numbers of players, both local and professional, from varied backgrounds that played and contributed to the game, including a number of indigenous players such as Doug Nicholls and Norm Byron, both of whom played for Fitzroy.

The Chinese community of Melbourne which has a strong history within Victoria dating back to the gold rush era, had a team of their own named the Young Chinese League, founded in 1932 (though Chinese involvement in the sport can be traced much further back) that competed against other local teams and businesses. This is one early example of the way the game and sport in general was used as a means of integration to achieve acceptance for migrants and indigenous citizens in a culture dominated by British hegemony.

Examples such as those listed above however, were very uncommon and much of the early multicultural history of Australian rules football is muddied by the overriding record of cultural discrimination and intolerance that dominated early federated Australia.

Post-War football and multiculturalism
Mirroring the Australian nation as a whole, the sport embraced the influence of other cultures far more readily in the post-war era following the vast influx of European migrants reaching Australian shores. From this wave of migrants and their subsequent generations many famous names in football have emerged from Silvagni to Koutoufides and Liberatore.

It was during this era that fans of the sport grew increasingly diverse as sport and in particular Australian rules was utilised as a tool of integration into the community for many migrants, eventually becoming an official part of government policy to aid integration. During this time delineation of club support was divided primarily through geography and suburban support and subsequently Carlton and Collingwood whose working class suburbs were home to a large portion of the Italian and Greek immigrants, emerged from the post-war period as clubs with a heavy migrant supporter bases that continue to thrive today.

Throughout the 1950s and 1960s the notion of Europeans playing the Australian game became somewhat of a novelty for the football community, as numerous newspaper articles emerged detailing individual stories of migrants picking up the game for the first time or swapping soccer for 'Aussie rules'. This exemplified the changing attitudes of the time and the changing face of the sport, sowing the seeds for future adoption and recognition of multicultural ideals.

Despite this increased participation of other ethnicities and cultures in the sport, division and ethnic intolerance still proved to be a hurdle for the sport, particularly amongst local teams where foreigners were perhaps not as readily accepted into the ranks of their teammates, although this varied between locations and individual cases.

Contemporary history
During the 1980s the notion of Australian rules as a multicultural sport began to take hold, as Indigenous player participation increased and those platers became celebrated in the game, particularly at the professional level. Furthermore an Irish influence on the game became more prevalent as players crossed over from the Gaelic code to Australia, the most famous of whom, Jim Stynes, was awarded the Brownlow Medal in 1991. The similarities between the two codes also led to the creation of the International rules football, which grew in popularity in the modern era from its beginnings in 1967.

In the 2000s the AFL adopted an official stance on multiculturalism, promoting the inclusion and creation of pathways for recent migrants to play the sport and become involved as fans. Subsequently the multicultural aspect to the sport became almost a marketing tool for the League, which has in recent times positioned itself as a somewhat progressive organisation. This became particularly evident during the 2005 AFL season which saw the launch of 'Multicultural Round' which remained a feature until the 2017 Season after which it was discontinued. The round was a celebration of the multicultural players and fans within the sport and in some years games of the round were broadcast in multiple languages, in order to allow migrants and international audiences alike to further appreciate the code. The AFL also created and still runs an ambassadorial program on multiculturalism, utilising players such as Adam Saad, Bachar Houli and Lin Jong as its multicultural representatives.

However, despite these efforts and history, the sport and professional league still remain largely supported and played by an Anglo-centric population and the AFL's claims of being a multicultural sport have come into question. Considering Australia's large migrant and second-generation migrant population, the percentage of players in the AFL either born overseas or with one parent born overseas are low at 15% according to official figures. This has led to the potential for viewing the multicultural positioning of the AFL as a mere marketing tool or gimmick, although there is genuine interest from the AFL in harnessing the migrant populations of the country, particularly as supporters, but also as players.