Sydney (AFP) – When Australia’s “golden generation” of women footballers begin their World Cup campaign in France on Sunday, veteran goalkeeper Lydia Williams will be flying the flag not just for her country but also for her indigenous heritage.
One of Australia’s most successful players, Williams’ mother was a missionary from the United States and her father an Aboriginal elder.
Williams grew up playing sport in the red dust of Australia’s outback and even had kangaroos for pets.
“When I first started (playing elite football), I wanted to leave the game better than when I first came in,” the 31-year-old said ahead of her fourth World Cup campaign for the Matildas, “leaving my mark in whatever way, shape or form that’s possible.
“Hopefully inspiring younger generations — whether it is goalkeepers or players, or indigenous people to come and play the game — that is my biggest goal.”
But football lags other Australian sports when it comes to indigenous recognition, with pathways in remote areas slow to emerge.
It stands out among top-tier sports in Australia for lacking a dedicated indigenous round in its men’s A-League and women’s W-League premier competitions.
Advocates say the absence of indigenous artwork on the Matildas World Cup kit is a missed opportunity, with recognition of Australia’s culture dating back thousands of years gaining more traction in other sports.
Rugby league and Australian Rules have targeted grassroots programmes in remote areas and unearthed some of the country’s greatest talent with indigenous representation in those sports running at about 10 percent for the premier men’s competitions.
Footballers with an Aboriginal background make up less than two percent of A-League and W-League squads; indigenous Australians comprise about three percent of the national population of 25 million.
“There are a lot of kids that are keen on our football, but don’t have the opportunities in today’s modern football programmes,” the first Aboriginal selected for Australia, John Moriarty, told AFP.
– Role Models –
The FFA hall-of-famer comes from Borroloola, a tiny Northern Territories town with a population of about 900 people more than 3,000 kilometres (1,860 miles) from Sydney in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
He launched a football foundation there to tackle poor health and education issues which affect remote communities.
“It is those types of barriers that we are hopeful in breaking and bringing kids through to that level, where we think they can achieve greater aspects in their lives,” he said.
from World Soccer Talk http://bit.ly/2QRu1C1
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