Ian ConstantineAboriginals will never succeed in Australian sport...
September 6th 2006 00:00
Aboriginal kids in action
Some of the most talented sportsmen in Australia will never be discovered. They will train everyday of their lives and probably be much better than a lot of their competitors at a much higher level than them because they are Aboriginal. A young boy growing up in outback Northern Territory playing footy in bare feet on rock hard ground will never have the support of someone who has grown up in a privileged family who can afford the state of the art Adidas boots or the latest puma cricket bat. And it's not going to change.
Power in society is generally reserved for those who can afford it, and power systems in sport mirror this. While people might say this is a shame and whinge about the fact that these poor kids will never get the same opportunities etc etc, the plain fact is that this just won't change. As much as these people like to fight for the rights of the underprivileged, no one really does anything about it. Until someone goes and builds these Aboriginal kids a stadium, gives them all the newest boots and offers them professional training which is sustained, not just the odd visit from Michael Long or Nicky Winmar, this won't change. No one is willing to do this either because it is too big a gamble. Why would they waste all this money on a bunch of kids who, because of their upbringing, would probably run off with the boots and try to on-sell them for a cheap bottle of wine.
So long as these kids behave the way they do and are starved of opportunity, the sportsmen that will dominate Australian sporting spectrums are those from privileged backgrounds. You can't grow a plant without the right soil.
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Comment by spain01
Juan Carlos
spain again
While your'e about it
Viva l'difference
Fire News Blog
Cities dying of thirst.
sports people. Maybe giving them lots of facilities will have the reverse effect.