Education is vitally important… but VCE is completely overrated. There is so much pressure put on kids to do well in VCE for very little gain.
Tbh, a young bloke like Mosquito or any other talented footballer… who is likely to have a minimum of 4 years in the AFL system. VCE is going to be meaningless for any further study.
The only real thing important about VCE is that the schools are rated and receive more funding if their students score well, or if a student wants to get into a competitive uni degree. That’s about it.
Edit: an AFL footballer could get into any competitive uni course.
**[quote=“jonovdp, post:760, topic:11819, full:true”]
Watching West Coast tonight and seeing Cameron, Rioli, Ryan and Jetta tear the game apart.
I’m not sure about this misconception that indigenous kids have trouble adjusting to AFL team structures.
[/quote]
maybe benfti or someone better in the know can answer, but most of those names have come through the clondarf academy (spelling).
where they give indigenous football players more structure and make them also focus on their studies, while teaching them about adapting to “football life” and that.
that being said, the afl dictatorship seem to be trying to push the game back to what it was, so the more and more than do that, the more and more skilled actual footballers become valuable, and who the generally the most skilled ??
So i imagine the eb’s and flows of footy at present will see probably an incline in picking up indig players
Indigenous players make up 10% of AFL lists and 3% of the population. That they are so well represented indicates that they are uniquely adapted to our game. It also shows that any suggestion of under-representation due to discriminatory recruiting policies is complete BS.
Fark me. They’re a farking football league. Why the hell do they need a reconciliation action plan? That’s a political thing. Something for governments to have, not sporting competitions.
Also, schools, large business, NGO’s, most other sporting orgs have a RAP and it’s updated annually. The AFL not having touched theirs in 4 years given the indigenous participation rate is pathetic, tbh.
wasn’t the whole premise of kev07 apologizing for all us white folk and all the ■■■■■■ things our ancestors did wrong, supposed to be you know the, at the very least first step towards reconciliation ?
Like i asked at the time, in what practical ways will/did that change anything, either in the sentiment aboriginals have towards us, or helped their living conditions as a whole ?
AFL isn’t exactly an apolitical organisation. Nor is it purely a sporting competition.
Even if it’s just the “vibe”, it’s certainly a bad look for an organisation that loves to tout and market its inclusive values for political and commercial gains.
And considering the existence of indigenous specific programs run by the AFL, supposedly for the benefit of indigenous peoples, it’s a pretty big oversight.
(It’s also a pretty big oversight that it’s taken 4 years for people to notice)