There, that surprised you, didn't it? She's all about the clothes and the shoes, you thought.
Why are there no Asian footballers?
I asked K, our PE co-ordinator, who is brilliant and gets the little inner-city kids fencing and learning judo and cricket and rugby (famous rugby player visited us, the male and female teachers were goggling in awe for widely different reasons) and competing in stuff all over East London, in the face of extreme parental indifference to any sport or exercise. Thank god for him.
He was talking about one of our kids with natural talent, who pretty much was a one man team in a game against another school with players in the West Ham junior club... Why don't our kids play for the junior clubs, I ask? How do scouts spot them? They don't come to the schools to talent spot, he said, they will go to tournaments... but this kid is pretty much too old now, they start between 6 and 9 and he's past it at 11. And the parents don't know or don't care about the junior clubs.
I'm spitting feathers. 'So the clubs don't go out there... and the parents aren't interested... And all these kids' talents and skills are going to waste... Why doesn't the FA do something about it? Some positive discrimination?'
'It's a cultural thing' chips in someone. They don't want them to be footballers. They're not interested... in the 70s all the black kids wanted to be footballers, because they saw the few black players out there and said 'I'm going to be like him...' They don't think they can do it, because they don't see it. If the parents could see someone succeeding, it might make them consider it for their children.
It's a vicious circle isn't it? K said things were getting better. But think of this... they've been in the UK since the 70s. That's 40 odd years of wasted talent. It's a tragedy.
About pretension
1 week ago
13 comments:
I hate it that there have to be all-Asian teams.
The day West Ham develop a few Asian kids into first team players I will feel proud. But I can't see it coming.
Well clearly it's not good that one ethnic group is so entirely excluded from something but on the other hand, thank goodness that someone doesn't see being a footballer or some other sleb as a worthwhile ambition.
"...in the face of extreme parental indifference to any sport or exercise."
Except cricket. Nasser Hussein, Mark Ramprakash, Monty Panesar, Ravi Bopara, Owais Shah, Sajid Mahmood, Amjhad Khan, Kabir Ali...
As for football, the first non-white man to play for England was Asian. Or is that the wrong sort of Asian? Like the British number one female tennis player?
It is an interesting debate. People always look for a simple answer, but it's such a huge combination of factors, and I've no doubt some good old fashioned racism.
I think things will change with the 3rd generation of Asian kids. The kids that my friends are having, whose parents support British football sides and will encourage them to get stuck in.
But Tim's point about cricket is very true. I played cricket with my asian school friends, and didn't even think about England having a captain of Asian descent until this very debate came up at work.
I never used to believe in positive discrimination Geoff, but I think this must be a case for it.
GSE, I know there's a lot wrong with modern football (and the music industry too) but I think that the traditional route out for poor and working class kids still holds true, and if someone has a gift then it's criminal that they are excluded from using it.
Especially with the way things are going - more and more we are developing into a society of have and have-nots, with a huge gulf between rich and poor, a two-tier education system and from an early age they are channelled into no-hope jobs. I think there's a definite gap here which is not being addressed. And the majority of footballers are not vastly overpaid slebs, are they?
Tim, sure, but those cricketers are also mainly of Indian and Pakistani descent too. Maybe I should have said specifically Bangladeshi. (Our families are mainly from Bangladesh and Somalia.) Do you see them playing cricket with their families in the local park? No. The only sport or exercise they do is through school. Zero interest. Frank Soo - proves my point, kind of an exception don't you think? And tennis, pah, don't talk to me about tennis. We don't win at tennis because it's a lily livered middle class sport only played by privileged people with no fire in their bellies.
Del, we ARE in the third generation now, that's why I reckon the sports world has got to be a bit more proactive. How can they have got away with this imbalance for so long without trying to change it?
It riles me because if these kids aren't introduced to opportunities or role models young enough, they will never get a chance to be musicians, they will never be actors, they will never be sports people or artists - they will only ever be wage slaves with boring jobs.
Sorry to bang on, but Bangladesh made it to the second round of the 2007 cricket World Cup, something that India and Pakistan conspicuously failed to do. Abdi Bile (Somalia) won the 1500 metres at the World Championships in 1987. And Anne Keothavong (sp?) is from Hackney, the daughter of poor Laotian immigrants. Not bad as role models, I reckon.
Fair enough my friend. But I think my point still stands. I'm talking about football,the game everyone plays in school, the ones that kids play in the street all over the world, traditionally an accessible, working class game. It's not representative at all. Until there's more people doing it, the parents won't consider it for a career, the children won't think of it for themselves, and it'll remain exclusive.
Clubs scout tournaments and youth leagues. They simply don't have the resources to go to every school in their area just on the off chance of finding a diamond in the rough. It's a great shame that this kid (if he really is that good) isn't being noticed. But there's always the chance that he'll find a different route into football as a career. If, that is what he wants.
But couldn't they get a better communication with the school sports teachers, Rad? Some kids need someone to push them, or maybe they just don't have the confidence to push themselves.
That's down to the teachers and the parents though mate. And I'd imagine a lot of schools would be leery of having a stranger come and watch the kids play.
Yes it is down to the parents - but if the parents are against it, or not interested (as with the Bangladeshi families) all the responsiblility falls on the teachers (again) - you know, along with all the other fun stuff that gets landed on them like literacy levels, numeracy levels, SATs, diet, manners, obesity, combating poverty, child protection issues, etc etc etc... The scouts have responsiblity for only the one thing. It's in the interest of the sport to do something more to get kids into it surely? Even something as simple as asking for likely candidates for summer schools or workshops from the sports teachers... People working with kids all have to be CRB checked and aren't ever left alone with them.
I tell you, if I ruled the world...
If the parents don't want to know because it's not in their culture then that's it. End of.
A teacher can't push a kid to excel in a sport if the kids parents have no interest or are against that kid playing that particular sport.
I hope it does change. Maybe this or the next generation of Asian parents will have enough differing values to their parents that they'll encourage their kids to play but at the moment it's down to cultural differences, and you can't legislate for that...
Well you can, but it's generally people with funny moustaches that do.
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