Students from four primary schools in suburban Melbourne flocked to Olympic Park to lock horns in Collingwood’s annual Multicultural Cup last month.

The four schools, Lalor Primary School, Thomastown Meadows Primary School, Sholem Aleichem College and St Joesph’s Primary School, went head-to-head after completing a six-week program under the tutelage of Collingwood and the AFL’s multicultural development officers.

Lalor Primary was crowned the champion of both the boys and girls teams on an afternoon spent plying the skills they had learned during their clinics.

Joel Halperin, who has been involved in Sholem Aleichem College’s multicultural program for the past two years, says the multicultural schools program has provided his students the chance to learn the fundaments of our game.

“The program has allowed the students to participate in football matches against other schools from a variety of backgrounds.

“Not only has Sholem never competed against other schools playing football, but it has also had the opportunity of playing football against students from different cultural backgrounds.

“As Sholem Aleichem College is a Jewish school, and almost all the students are Jewish, it gives the students an opportunity to meet people of the same age but from different cultural backgrounds, which is an experience that we as a school have not had before.”

David Hu, an AFL Multicultural Ambassador, has worked closely with Collingwood throughout the year.

He played an important role in the running of the Multicultural Schools Cup and overseeing a smooth competition from start to finish.

“It was a fantastic day for everyone involved, especially the students from the primary schools,” he said.

“You could tell by their active involvement in matches that they were really enjoying playing the game of football on the field.”

How the Multicultural Schools Program works
The Multicultural Schools Program is a minimum six-week program that is conducted with students from primary (grades 3-6) and secondary (years 7-10) schools. It consists of weekly clinics conducted by Multicultural Development Officers, based on basic football skills and key educational themes.