SOCCER is the world’s most popular sport, played and watched by people in just about every country.
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This shared interest has been harnessed by Bendigo Community Health Services with its multicultural soccer tournament, a way to not only get people physically active during Men’s Health Week, but also foster inclusiveness within the community, particularly for the benefit of those from refugee backgrounds.
“The purpose is to bring different cultures together, because soccer is a common interest,” manager Kaye Graves said.
“It’s to celebrate inclusiveness and diversity.”
Seventeen teams played in Saturday’s tournament, coming from the Bendigo area, Shepparton, Ballarat, Dandenong and Geelong.
There were teams of people from Karen and Afghan background, as well as teams representing various organisations and businesses in the area.
The final was played between the Ballarat team and the local Karen team, Shining, but it was the visitors who went away victorious.
Ehta Wai, a Karen man who arrived in Bendigo about seven years ago, and his team have played in every tournament in its four-year history.
He said it was good to see so many friendly people out on the soccer pitch and the event was a good opportunity to meet new people.
Acting Senior Sergeant Damian Keegan was on the police team and said the tournament was a good opportunity to build better relationships in the community.
“It’s just a really good way for us to interact (with others) in a more relaxed atmosphere,” he said.
It was the first time playing in the tournament for the Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative team.
Sandy Owen said the organisation also believed it would be an opportunity to engage with the community, and hoped to increase their involvement in next year’s event.
But the tournament was not only a bit of fun – for some, it was also a good chance to hone skills they have learnt since arriving in Bendigo.
Ramazan Mehrdadi has been living in Bendigo for nearly four years after arriving in Australia from Afghanistan.
He has trained to become a referee and has been refereeing matches for about two years, but has been playing soccer since childhood.
“It’s my favourite sport,” Mr Mehrdadi said.
“I like all sport, but soccer is my favourite.”
Food, another universal interest, was also part of the day’s events, with men and women from the Karen community cooking food for lunch.
The tournament was one of 11 events being held by Bendigo Community Health Services in 11 days for its Men’s Health Marathon.
Bendigo Community Health Services men’s health nurse practitioner Peter Strange said men’s health was generally poorer than that of women because they were typically “late presenters”, seeking treatment for a health problem later than their female counterparts.
“Women perhaps communicate more readily and easily,” Mr Strange said, adding that men were also typically more inclined to try fix problems themselves.
Mr Strange said Men’s Health Week aimed to improve this attitude to boost early intervention and prevention of health problems.