Changes in Assumptions about Australian Indigenous Footballers: From Exclusion to Enlightenment

Abstract

The participation of large numbers of Indigenous players in Australian professional football is a relatively recent phenomenon. Prior to the 1970s participation was, at best, limited. This paper identifies the underlying assumptions, shared values, beliefs and ideologies that have been held by the chief recruiters of elite teams. Football club recruiters are ideal subjects because, more than any other group of persons, they are gatekeepers of the game at the elite level. Furthermore, many have served in this generalized role over a long period of time. Recruiters were interviewed to understand how the recruiting strategies involving Indigenous players have changed. We investigated the interpretive frameworks that have been used by recruiting working staff, and to identify some of the complex dynamics that have enabled a shift from a blunt exclusion to a form of participation characterized by Stuart Hall as 'inferential racism'. An analysis of factors that facilitate narratives and aligned opportunities for Indigenous players revealed that several themes permeate the language of recruiters. During the past decade the Australian Football League (AFL) has become notable among leading national institutions for its public endorsement of positive relationships with Indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples. Motivated by the sentiment of reconciliation, the AFL has worked to increase Indigenous participation in the elite level of Australian football, achieving an enviable record of success with the recruitment of players. Since the 1990s the number of Indigenous players has steadily increased, with approximately 50 Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders participating in the AFL during the last five seasons. Despite this achievement, the increase in Indigenous participation has not been uniform. In the traditional heartland and administrative home of the AFL, the ten