By Rebels Media Unit
The RaboDirect Rebels will this week join forces with the Victorian Multicultural Commission (VMC) to celebrate Victorian Cultural Diversity Week.
As the Rebels prepare to face the Lions at AAMI Park this Friday evening at 7:30pm in Round Six of the 2015 Asteron Life Super Rugby competition, the Club will welcome pacific islander performers to the stadium to join our own Island Breeze Rugby Plus choir in providing entertainment either side of kick off. These performers will give all in the stadium a sneak peek into what they can expect at Federation Square on Sunday 22nd March, for the Viva Victoria Festival which crowns Cultural Diversity Week.
“Sport provides people with a network and a sense of belonging, which are both vital elements for ensuring that culturally and linguistically diverse communities flourish and prosper,” said Mr Chin Tan, VMC Chairperson.
“It is great to see the Rebels get involved with Cultural Diversity Week 2015 and proudly promote the cultural diversity of the team. We are happy to be collaborating with the team to celebrate Victoria’s greatest asset, our diversity, and promoting harmony.”
With the Rebels only five years old and Rugby not a traditional Victorian sport, we are proud to have a playing squad and off-field staff who have come to Melbourne from a number of diverse cultural backgrounds.
All Blacks and Rebels centre Tamati Ellison contributes to that diverse culture and has played for the Blues, Highlanders and Hurricanes in his native New Zealand and in Japan with Ricoh Black Rams. Ellison believes it is one of the major positives that come from being a Rugby player.
“If you are smart as a Rugby player, you appreciate the exposure to different cultures and you try and get around the boys and understand where people are from, their different traditions and how they’ve been brought up,” he says. “You can learn a lot about different cultures in such a close-knit environment where you are becoming like a family, and it’s great to have that understanding of different guys’ backgrounds.
“I was speaking to Sefanaia Naivalu on the bus in Perth last weekend about his different journey to becoming a Rebel from growing up in Fiji, and it’s an inspiring thing for me to hear. Now I can help share his story, and I certainly understand him better.”
At home in Melbourne in his second season, and signed until the end of next year, Tamati is enjoying a culture that is strengthened by the fact all of the playing group have moved from somewhere to be at the Rebels.
“Obviously we have all come from different backgrounds and parts of the world to be here in Melbourne, and Melbourne is such a culturally diverse city in itself, and it’s great to have that as our base. The main thing is that we have a very welcoming environment; we do focus on high performance, but there is great cultural awareness and understanding, and empathy with where the boys have been brought up.”
In the current Rebels playing squad, countries that are directly represented include Tonga, Samoa, New Zealand (European and Maori), Japan, Ireland, Fiji and Indigenous Australian, while players and their families have a range of backgrounds including Polish, Cook Islands, Chile, South Africa and more. In the past, the Rebels have also been home to Russian and English international Rugby players!
