Gold Coast SUNS players Adam Saad and Tom Nicholls will once again be Australia Post AFL Multicultural Player Ambassadors in 2017.
Nineteen AFL and AFLW players were named as Ambassadors on Wednesday, with Saad and Nicholls entering their second year on the list.
Female footballers Sabrina Frederick-Traub (Brisbane Lions), Darcy Vescio (Carlton), Helen Roden (Collingwood) and Akec Makur Chuot (Fremantle) will be joined in promoting some of the many diverse backgrounds in Australia’s Game by Saad, Nicholls, Dayne Zorko (Brisbane Lions), Dyson Heppell (Essendon), David Zaharakis (Essendon), and Jake Kolodjashnij (Geelong), Stephen Coniglio (GWS GIANTS), Christian Salem (Melbourne), Majak Daw (North Melbourne), Jimmy Toumpas (Port Adelaide), Bachar Houli (Richmond), Aliir Aliir (Sydney Swans), Nic Naitanui (West Coast), Lin Jong (Western Bulldogs) and Jason Johannisen (Western Bulldogs).
Adam Saad (Lebanese) will work on developing the Bachar Houli Islamic Schools Program in Queensland, mentor participants at the National Bachar Houli Academy and provide support to the AFL Queensland Ramadan dinner. He will also support the AFL’s World Team at the NAB Under-16 National Championships as well as helping drive the Queensland multicultural strategy through key appearances at multicultural events, including the Toyota AFL Multicultural Round.
Tom Nicholls (Fijian) will support the Queensland multicultural strategy through key appearances at multicultural events, including the Toyota AFL Multicultural Round. Nicholls will also support the AFL’s World Team at the NAB Under-16 National Championships.
In 2017, multicultural players make up 15 per cent of the AFL player lists across the 18 AFL Clubs and 7.8 per cent across the eight NAB AFL Women’s clubs.
The Australia Post AFL Multicultural Player Ambassadors will be at the forefront of AFL Multicultural Round to be held this year in Round 19 of the 2017 Toyota AFL Premiership Season.
With the support of Australia Post, the round will continue to celebrate the many cultures that live within Australian Football and will highlight the community engagement initiatives being undertaken by the ambassadors and the entire Australian Football industry.
