I wanted to talk about a topic in sports that many young African males living in Australia are acutely aware of.
Growing up with some of the most physically gifted and skilled players in Australia, playing sports such as basketball, football (soccer), and Aussie rules football, I noticed something in some of these sports. You have a talented young African goalscorer playing in attack/mid positions at all junior levels, but as soon as they are offered a professional contract, they are suddenly changed to a defensive position. The ones who persist as attacking players often leave the country as their talents are recognised overseas and underused here.
What is going on here? Let’s use Soccer, as an example. Talented offensive players of an African background, if they are not converted to defender positions, are oftentimes given inconsistent minutes or irregular game time.
There are of course many reasons that could contribute to this, such as level of conditioning of players, or even potential poor form in training and other reasons we do not see behind-the-scenes.
What we young African men in the community see, though, is that if you stand out athletically or physically in the professional level, most times you will be converted to the defensive position. This could be due to your height, you are made to be a centre-back. Or due to your speed, you will be converted to a right-back.
This is an issue for two reasons:
Firstly, these players are expected to play a position unknown to them at the latter stages of their development and if they do not succeed then they are not afforded another opportunity in their original position.
Secondly, we know that goalscorers are appreciated more and oftentimes earn more. Not giving these young people an opportunity can hold back these professionals from their chance to turn their passion and abilities into a living.
What strikes me as startling is how many talented young African goalscorers the Australian system has been producing, but the little opportunities they are afforded. We have a chance to create a system where youth, creativity and skill are rewarded.
Let’s look at Eritrean-Swedish Premier League superstar, Alexander Isak. The 6’4 striker finished third on the goal tally of the English Premier League this season, using his combination of height, athleticism and speed to help lead Newcastle seventh on the ladder. Last night, he scored at the MCG in front of 78,000 Australian fans at NUFC vs TOTT. Now we know comparing someone who grew up playing in the European systems is vastly different to someone growing up here in Australia, but the point is this:
Just because a player is tall and physically gifted, does not mean he is an automatic centre back. We need to utilise the talent pool of our young African Australian players, we cannot keep them under-utilised until European teams come knocking on the door.
Image taken from instagram: Alexander Isak
#football #newcastleunited #australia #ayi