Academic supports multiculturalism in football
Dr Nasya Bahfen with friends at the North Melbourne Multicultural Round game against Carlton last weekend
Monash academic Dr Nasya Bahfen is proud to participate in this year’s AFL Multicultural Round as part of her role as a multicultural ambassador with the North Melbourne Football Club.
Each year, the AFL dedicates one round of the season to celebrate the game’s cultural diversity and its role in bringing together multicultural communities. In particular, the much-loved sport showcases the role that multicultural communities have played in the game over the last 150 years.
Dr Bahfen, from the Faculty of Arts, is one of 15 AFL multicultural ambassadors who work with North Melbourne in their study support and sports program, ‘The Huddle’. The Huddle, which includes people with a range of professional, religious and ethnic backgrounds, helps to attract young people to the game.
“I’ve been a multicultural ambassador for two years now, and I’ve witnessed how Aussie rules as a sport reaches out to different communities, and how this engagement leads to understanding between people of different cultures,” Dr Bahfen said.
Born in Indonesia but raised in Melbourne, Dr Bahfen brings first-hand experience of the issues faced by people growing up as Muslim immigrants in Australia.
She runs a weekly drop-in sport program supported by North Melbourne, and plans to take the girls attending the program to North’s round 21 game against the Western Bulldogs.
Themed ‘Many Cultures, One Game’, this year's Multicultural Round (round 18) runs from Friday 8 July to Sunday 27 July.