The Adelaide Football Club has joined the movement to RECOGNISE Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our country’s Constitution.
Led by Club legend Andrew McLeod, the team proudly donned the distinctive red ‘R’ t-shirts on Wednesday and pledged their support for the Recognise cause as Australia prepares for a referendum.
The Club’s stance on Recognise coincides with the Beach Energy Aboriginal Youth Leadership & Governance Programs first camp for the year. Thirty young, talented footballers from across South Australia were present for the significant moment on Wednesday, and joined the Crows players on Football Park for a quick kick afterwards.
This week’s camp is part of the Beach Energy Aboriginal Youth Leadership and Governance Program, which is one of three Indigenous programs Andrew and wife Rachael McLeod run in association with the Adelaide Football Club.
Andrew McLeod briefed the entire Club on the Recognise movement and said it was a natural fit with the Club’s passionate focus on working with Indigenous communities, especially young people.
“When you are a well-known footy player, recognition happens to you a lot,” McLeod said.
“But our country’s Constitution hasn’t yet recognised the 40,000-plus years of Australia’s history and the people who forged that impressive part of our shared story. And it still has parts that allow race discrimination, which don’t reflect our ‘best and fairest’ ideals as a country. So we’ve all got a responsibility to fix that.
“I encourage everyone to support Recognise – by declaring your support for recognition; you have already taken Australia a step closer to that goal.”
CEO Steven Trigg said the Club was proud to lend its support to the historic movement and acknowledge the first part of Australia’s story.
“The AFL has had many Indigenous greats whose on-field talents have been recognised at the highest sporting levels. And yet, these same great Australians are still not recognised in our founding document,” Trigg said.
“It’s time to put that right.”
Rachael McLeod, who delivers the Club’s Indigenous programs with Andrew, said supporting Recognise was another way of demonstrating the Club’s strong commitment in this field.
“I think this is going to be a proud and defining moment for our generation of Australians when we formally recognise the longer history of our own country,” she said.
The Crows’ stance builds on strong support for Recognise from the AFL’s Indigenous All-Stars team last October.
And in a mirror of the wide cross-party support for recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia’s Constitution, the Crows and Port Adelaide are now both supporters of Recognise in a show of South Australian unity across traditional divides and rivalries.
Recognise spokesperson Tanya Hosch said it was a fantastic initiative by the Andrew McLeod and the Adelaide Football Club to lead the Recognise movement among the AFL.
Almost 180,000 Australians are now part of the movement to recognise the first Australians in our Constitution and remove discrimination from it. People can show their support by signing up at www.recognise.org.au
Adelaide Football Club/McLeod Indigenous programs background
The Crows, in partnership with Beach Energy, Andrew McLeod and wife Rachael, have developed three, key Indigenous programs to allow Indigenous youth access to similar opportunities Crows great McLeod experienced during his career.
The programs use sport and mentoring to engage and educate Aboriginals youths, providing them with the experience, skills and knowledge required to seek independence, self-determination and the individual capacity to achieve their goals. The Andrew McLeod Challenge, Aboriginal Youth Leadership and Governance Program, and Future Leaders Program are unique in that they focus on continued mentoring of participants across South Australia.
