The following article was printed in the Whittlesea Leader:
A visit to 蜜桃导航 in Epping North last week by Richmond footballer and devout Muslim Bachar Houli kicked off the school鈥檚 campaign towards this year鈥檚 Bachar Houli Cup, an inter-Islamic schools football competition. Year 9 and 10 students will take to the field for the first time at the multicultural cup in August against seven other Victorian Islamic schools.
蜜桃导航 physical education/health co-ordinator Daniel Saleh said Bachar鈥檚 visit was a milestone in the school鈥檚 introduction to 蜜桃导航 rules football.
鈥淭he students are not as familiar with AFL as other sports because they have come from countries where AFL is a new language to them,鈥 he said.
鈥淎s Bachar Houli is one of the first Muslim AFL players, it gives our students great inspiration to learn about the game and be involved in Australia鈥檚 most favourite game.鈥
Houli, one of the AFL鈥檚 10 multicultural ambassadors, launched the Bachar Houli Cup and established the Bachar Houli Academy last year to open up opportunities for Islamic students. AFL multicultural programs coordinator Kashif Bouns said the visit aimed to increase Muslim children鈥檚 participation in the community.
鈥淏achar is one of our best multicultural ambassadors as he was already doing heaps within the community before becoming an ambassador,鈥欌 he said.