AFL kicking goals for diversity, educating next generation of players

The AFL is again staging the National Diversity Championship to celebrate young players from all walks of life.

The AFL is tackling the ongoing problem of racial discrimination in sport with this year's week-long National Diversity Championships.

The championships, to be held in Blacktown, Sydney is a nationwide competition, which also incorporates classroom lessons from former players to help up and comers prepare for and understand the pressures that come with being a professional athlete.

Gumbaynggir teen Troy Duckett, who lives in Coffs Harbour, is one of this year's participants and a member of the joint NSW/ACT Kickstart Team.

The 15-year-old believes there is no place for racism on the sporting pitch, although in his own experience that discrimination free zone hasn't carried across into the class room.

"At school there was always racial discrimination. Just from other kids from different cultures. Around sport there was nothing racial," he said.

Duckett is one of 200 participants from Indigenous or multicultural backgrounds taking part in the championships.

His teammate James Rene, has a first hand account of the nasty underbelly of competitive sport.

"I was called a few names, racial slurs," he said.

"Sometimes I would get into a fight but I learned that you just don't worry about what people say to you."

It is this kind of prejudice the AFL is seeking to eliminate by educating emerging talent on the importance of preparing mentally for a career in sport and to be resilient and not retaliatory.

AFL National Diversity Championships participants. (SBS News) Source: SBS News

Musician and diversity ambassador L-Fresh the Lion - the son of Sikh immigrants turned hip hop breakout - says the game should be free of any bullying or intimidation based on gender, race, religion or skin colour.

"It is a safe space, it is an encouraging space and it is one where people can be themselves without barriers limiting them," he said.

"It is a place for them to shine. The more spaces like this the better. It provides spaces for those that might not have been associated with the game to give it a crack."

Already a member of the Swans Junior academy, Rene wants to follow in the footsteps of Swans star Aliir Aliir as a graduate of the diversity championship and the 15-year-old has every confidence he can.

"AFL is a diverse game," he said.

"It is inviting no matter what gender, religion, nationality colour you are."