Sudanese Use Basketball to Counter Racism by Ackech Manyiel

MELBOURNE - Sudanese youths have moved to counter racist attacks by holding a national Sudanese basketball tournament.

The competition involving young members of Australia's Sudanese community was held in the Melbourne suburb of Keysborough just before Christmas. The contest, which was watched by over 1000 spectators, attracted 12 male and two female teams from around Australia. It is now planned as an annual event.

Australian-Sudanese youths have often felt racially discriminated against by other community members. They have reported experiencing verbal or physical racial attacks while walking down the street, waiting for public transport or when on buses or trains, and are often concerned for their safety.

The Victorian Human Rights Commission conducted a study of their complaints which resulted in a report titled, Rights of passage: The experiences of Australian-Sudanese young people, published last December.

"The death of 19-year-old Liep Gony, at Noble Park Railway station in 2007, and comments by high profile public figures about Australian-Sudanese people before and after that incident, appeared to precipitate increased negative feeling about Australian-African migrants in the Dandenong area," the report said.

The report also stated that being young, racially different from majority of Australians and newly arrived in this country increased the risk of social exclusion.

Chief tournament organiser, Manyang Beriberi, said the competition was very successful, despite some initial problems.

"It was very difficult to organise the tournament in the beginning; nobody wanted to support Sudanese youth. We had to almost beg and struggle to sell the idea to anyone. But at the last minute, with luck and God's blessing, a few community agencies provided half of the funding for the tournament, and the other half was shouldered by the participants," he said.

"It helps to bring young Sudanese together, to play basketball and work in a team. It also helps young Sudanese to access sport facilities that are quite expensive, particularly for newly arrived communities like ours who may have big families."

The participants were enthusiastic. "It makes me happy to see so many Sudanese youths together doing something constructive," said Akolde Mayom, a team coach who also runs the Nadus basketball program for young Sudanese in New South Wales city of Newcastle.

"We drove all the way for more than 15 hours. I feel good; the tournament offered me and my team a new beginning for bigger things to be accomplished," he said.

Players were billeted with family and friends, and the tournament helped unite Sudanese communities who had been separated from their loved ones and close friends due to war that has engulfed the country for over a decade. Malual Aleer, Brisbane team leader and coach, said the contest provided welcome contact for many. "It is nice to see lot of people I have not seen for a long time, and also to make new friends," he said.

Brisbane won the tournament, defeating Newcastle 45-42 in the final.
* Ackech is participating in yarraReporter civic journalism training organised by Infoxchange Australia.