Another one of my little awareness projects from my time as a teacher:
"I'm not really a great football enthusiast. I know little about it. But I do know that there are few, if any, Asian professional footballers. In fact, after some quick research today, I discovered there are/have been only five within recent years. Why is this? I put this question to several students and investigated responses given by some of these five players. Each time, the responses are the same: our families don't take it seriously, dismissing it as a waste of time and favouring more professional routes for careers; and the racism that permeates football at so many levels is particularly vicious against the Asian player. The white male often feels weaker against the physical prowess of a black player, but sometimes sees in its Asian colleagues an easy victim who is often the recipient of racial slurs and stereotyping. Also, the lack of role models currently in the game breeds a cycle which means few young Asians see it as an achievable goal. The argument that it is because Asians are not naturally talented at football is not acceptable.
If I'm not really into football, then why do I care? I care because everyone deserves an equal chance in life in every sector of the community and in every industry. Football is just my current whinge that possesses a clear gaping hole within certain ethnic minority representation. Next time it could be your industry – so watch out! (Like anyone actually reads these blogs anyway.)
Visit www.asianfootballnetwork.org.uk "
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