Western Bulldogs CEO Ameet Bains says the Club is striving to build authentic connections within Indian communities in the west of Melbourne and beyond.
Speaking at an AFL India Leadership roundtable on the eve of the AFL's launch of its India strategy at the MCG with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance, Bains said there was a new imperative to build the game's appeal among new audiences and that taking an informed and culturally sensitive approach could have an enormous positive impact.
"I think we've all been guilty - from an AFL point of view and from a club point of view - of (just) dipping our toe into engaging the multicultural community and how we approach it, " Bains said at the Australia-India Leaders Forum, hosted by the AFL at Marvel Stadium.
"I think the change is that now the power of India can't be denied. And I think that comes through domestically in the population change in our country. The Indian population that is moving here is really driving our population growth.
"If our game is to not only sustain itself into the future but thrive we need people who are living here to really embrace the game. We are the only professional sporting team based in the west of Melbourne and we see the growth through this corridor as phenomenal."
Bains said there were three avenues for AFL clubs to look at as they look to engage with multicultural communities.
"The first is participation and how we can get kids to play the game and that really starts at school,” Bains said.
"The Western Football Netball League now has over 200 kids - boys and girls - who identify as of Indian origin playing which is a great start. In our own Next Generation Academy we have almost 6% Indian origin representation without any deliberate effort so that's starting to grow.
"From a fan engagement perspective there are different ways of doing it and I think we need to shed some of the traditional ways of how we've sought to engage fans to come to our game. Understanding how the Indian community works culturally, a trip to the football isn't just one or two people, it might be 15 to 20 family members who want to attend so how do we engage and accomodate families a quite different consideration.
"We recently ran a research forum to better understand why fans of Indian origin connected with the game and the Bulldogs in particular, and why some family members and community members haven't. I think we need to do a better job of understanding what the disconnect is rather than making assumptions about how we get people to enjoy our game. We love our game so we're always going to be biased.
"The final part is community engagement. The most genuine and authentic connection we can really strive to have is in positively impacting the community. We've got a wonderful Community Foundation that runs a range of programs from Footscray all the way to the South Australian border.
"What we've sought to do - particularly with our men’s and women’s health programs - is run them in language … so participants are getting educated in health and wellbeing by facilitators they can connect to culturally. I think creating the space culturally that people feel safe and comfortable in at your football club is key, because ultimately a sense of belonging, a sense of community, that's the starting point."
The AFL launched a long-term strategy to grow Australian Rules Football in India at the MCG on Friday with Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in attendance alongside Bains and AFL CEO Andrew Dillon.
The league's strategy will be delivered through a staged, community-first approach, working alongside local partners to grow participation and build sustainable pathways to the game, with an ambition to increase participation in India to more than 100,000 registered participants over the coming years.
The strategy also supports local initiatives to strengthen the AFL’s engagement with the Australian Indian community including the Cultural Heritage Series, AFL Khel, AFL Hindi broadcasts, the Next Generation Academy and the AFL Community and School Connect program.
