With fast growing multicultural communities, Australian football is becoming the sport of choice for diverse communities.
Speaking with Anita Barar, Kashif Bouns, AFL Diversity Engagement & Engagement Lead, told that at present, there is Indian presence at national level like Essendon club has Alex Morgan - an Anglo Indian boy who is proud of his Indian heritage. 
Alex Morgan of the Bombers runs laps during the Essendon Bombers training session December 2015. Source: Adam Trafford/AFL Media)
Kashif further added that similarly at Carlton club there is Blaine Boekhorst, who is an ethnic Indian.
Blaine Boekhorst in action during the 2015 AFL Round 06 match between the Carlton Blues and the Brisbane Lions in Melbourne on May 10, 2015. Source: Michael Willson/AFL Media)
With fast growing multicultural communities, Australian football is becoming the sport of choice for diverse communities.
It has established the Multicultural Unit so that this game becomes a medium to encourage community bond. They had been organising various multicultural round festivals like carnival etc. bringing ethnic flavour.
During the 2014 AFL Round 18 match between the Western Bulldogs and the Essendon Bombers at Etihad Stadium, Melbourne on July 20, 2014. Source: Michael Willson/AFL Media
Their Multicultural Program has 10 Multicultural Development Officers (MDOs) who have their presence in Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia. This helps the AFL and its clubs to reach more people in the community.
Kashif Boune said that a range of programs have been developed to help young players to achieve new heights in their footy interest as well as to identify their hidden talent.
AFL has now introduced another new initiative New Generation Academy. This is for children who are born overseas or whose parents were born overseas.
Kashif explained that under this initiative, each AFL club would be allocated with a region. These clubs would provide training to school going children.
"When these children turn 15-16, they would directly go in club list. … In other words the entry into these clubs wouldnt be that difficult which could be as otherwise", Kashif said .
First ever Hindi and Punjabi broadcast on Fox Footy. Source: Kashif Bouns/ AFL Media
Community Ambassador is another prestigious program of AFL for recognising anyone in the community who excels in any field. AFL has helped them further their development , has offered them various new opportunities and much more.
Kashif said, It helps both ways. Person with any talent gets associated with a brand name like AFL and inturn AFL can reach out to the broader community.
At this time, there is a big presence of Indian sub continent community as AFL Community Ambassadors.
As Kashif suggested, people should go to AFL website and facebook page to know about various opportunities, activities and programs available to culturally and linguistically diverse community.
