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 About the CMY Multicultural Sport and Recreation Program
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History of the Program
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Program Objectives
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Contact Us
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History of the Program
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Why sport and recreation?
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Traditionally sport has been the domain of clubs and sports governing bodies. The 1980’s saw the health and community sector begin to use sport as a tool to engage young people. Anecdotal evidence suggests that sport and recreational activity can assist in addressing anti-social behaviour in young people, aid with mental health and wellbeing, and assist in developing social connectedness and facilitating social inclusion.
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CMY’s direct service work informed us that young people identify sport as a major priority along with housing, employment and education. For newly arrived young people, sport and recreation can assist in the integration and resettlement process by assisting with language proficiency, providing a pathway into an integral part of Australian society, as well as maintain cultural identity and a sense of purpose and direction from often traumatic refugee experiences.
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Background to the Program
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In 1998, via funding from Sport Recreation Victoria (SRV), CMY established the Ethnic Youth Sports Development Project to increase the number of ongoing sporting opportunities for young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds.
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This project produced the report Sport: Creating a level playing field (Wilson 1998), which indicated that young people form CLD backgrounds are under-represented in formalised sport and recreational activities. The report also revealed that sport and recreation for CLD and newly arrived young people was limited due to barriers including:
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- lack of parental support;
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- lack of access to transport;
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- high cost of memberships, registration and uniforms;
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- the perceived fear of racism and discrimination; and
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- lack of knowledge about the structure of sport in Australia.
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A number of other reports have highlighted similar concerns. Aussie Sport articulated the need for physical educators to take into consideration "that NESB students may feel a greater need to belong and to experience success... furthermore that physical educators must be willing to learn about the needs of the students and modify programs accordingly”. (Aussie Sport Newsletter Autumn 95)
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The Australian Sports Commission, in its report Sport for Young Australians: Widening the gateways to participation, points out: "young people between 13-18 are not kept from sport by lack of facilities. Instead the barriers are often psychological, logistical or organisational... Ethnic background also impacts on the level of participation and the types of sports that this age group plays. Schools also play an important role in encouraging parental support for sport and opportunities for children to participate."
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Sport: Creating a level playing field found that a large number of young people from CLD backgrounds participate in sport, although not necessarily through structured clubs and competitions linked to State Sporting Associations.
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The report revealed that there were a considerable proportion of CLD young people participating in sports such as badminton, soccer and table tennis. These were sports that young people had played before they arrived in Australia, or sports that were culturally familiar to them.
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It also showed that CLD young people are initially more likely to participate in sport in familiar and supportive environments, such as schools and ethnic organisations, than unfamiliar environments such as mainstream sporting clubs, associations and competitions.
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There were fewer opportunities for young women from CLD communities to participate in sport due to the barriers they experience from within sporting environments and their own community. These barriers can be based on cultural, religious and gender expectations of young women’s roles in their community, or from the requirements and physical environments of sports.
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With the findings from the 1998 report, CMY applied for additional funding from VicHealth and the Department for Victorian Communities to implement the next stage of the Project. This saw CMY take on a program delivery role, developing a number of Best Practice Models such as the All Nations Soccer Competition.
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The All Nations Soccer Competition is a community based, ethno specific, low cost soccer competition for newly arrived young men. CMY partnered with OnSide Soccer and Football Federation Victoria (formerly Victorian Soccer Federation) to form a steering committee that would assist in the delivery of the competition.
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What began as a one-year scoping exercise in 1998 has now developed into a project lasting over eight years. Sport and recreation is now one of CMY’s core policy areas. The project has one full-time policy officer and a part-time project officer.
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CMY Multicultural Sport and Recreation Program Objectives
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1. To advocate for strategic development and policy change at an organisational level to create a more inclusive and responsive sport and recreational sector.
2. To build the capacity of Sporting Associations, local government, clubs and leisure centres in becoming inclusive of CLD young people by helping them develop multicultural sports strategies, polices, programs and resources.
3. To empower CLD young people to understand and access sport and recreation options.
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