It's all relative as Tiger Houli says thanksCaroline Wilson
The Age
March 14, 2012
Richmond player Bachar Houli with dozens of the 100 family members he has signed up as Richmond members. Photo: Jason SouthTHE word ''faith'' comes up often when Richmond's Bachar Houli speaks about his new role as the AFL's Muslim ambassador.
But it was faith of a different kind that led to the 23-year-old breaking yet another barrier yesterday when his personal quest to say thank you to his new club saw Houli sign up his 100th relative as a Tigers member.
He assembled much of his clan for The Age at sunset on the eve of becoming one of 10 footballing ambassadors for a series of AFL multicultural campaigns aimed at attracting more teenagers from non-traditional football backgrounds to the game and promoting it generally among diverse communities.
While indigenous Australians make up 10 per cent of club lists, a further 10 per cent of players come from multicultural backgrounds.
Last season Houli was the only practising Muslim in the AFL, and he is regarded as the most observant to have played at elite level.
''I wanted to thank the club for the faith they showed in me,'' he said. ''And I also wanted to thank them for the way they have honoured my faith.
''There is a prayer room for me at the club. They make allowances for me during Ramadan and they provide halal food at the club and organise it when we travel.''
Houli not only addressed the entire playing list and the Richmond staff last year about what it meant to be a Muslim but he did so again not long ago to the Tigers' new recruits.
''Everyone at Richmond has shown a lot of interest in what it means to be a Muslim,'' he said, ''and it has meant a lot to me to explain to them that most of us are not fanatics and that those people are a minority doing terrible things because they have become twisted in some way.''
A large chunk of his extended family - most of whom do not normally barrack for Richmond - met at his old school, al-Taqwa College, in Truganina. Houli has been employed by the AFL to develop programs there and across Victoria's five other Muslim schools, attended by about 15,000 children.
''We need more Muslims playing football and we need more Africans playing football,'' he said. ''This is a great game and if I can do my bit I will be very proud.''
Houli has been joined this season by fellow Muslim and St Kilda recruit Ahmed Saad, who will also be a multicultural ambassador as will other players including Majak Daw, Nic Naitanui and Leigh Montagna.
Houli agreed with his trademark smile that it is fortuitous having the month of Ramadan fall over July-August this year, meaning the hours between sunrise and sunset when he must fast are fewer than they might be otherwise. The club last season made allowances, excusing him, for example, from certain arduous training sessions during daylight hours.
Of Houli's 100 relatives now financially aligned to Tigerland, only three - his parents Malek and Yamama and wife, Rouba - were paid for by him. Malek Houli came to Australia from Lebanon as a 19-year-old and now runs the family fish shop.
Bachar was 11 when an older brother (he has six siblings, the eldest of whom is a surgeon ) secretly drove him to an under 12s game in a football competition in Melbourne's west. Just as Houli hid his football involvement from his parents for an entire season - he was caught out when he arrived home clutching a best and fairest trophy under his jumper - he also hid his faith for years from teammates.
The turning point came when he toured with the Victorian under-16 team. He was captain and neither overly shy nor extroverted, so the team manager placed him with the quietest and loudest two players in a bedroom.
''I realised that having to pray five times a day was not something I could hide,'' recalled Houli. ''On the first night I asked them to turn off the television and I explained it all to them. They were so interested and it was like a load had lifted off my shoulders.''
He described a meeting with Richmond's then new coach, Damien Hardwick, at the end of 2010 as another key turning point. He had endured a frustrating season at Essendon in which he never felt clear as to why he was being overlooked for senior selection, but Hardwick sat Houli down in a room at Punt Road and drew him a diagram.
''He had my old No. 43 on a wing and he said to me: 'That's where I'll play you for 22 games next year.' He kept his promise about the 22 games, although I still haven't played on the wing. I'm not saying I've made it, but I am just so happy I have come to this club.''
Houli said as much at last year's Richmond best and fairest celebrations, at which he bought two tables for his family and finished fourth in the count. He reiterated that Essendon too had happily made accommodations for his faith but said then that he wanted to repay the Tigers for believing in him.
Houli said he had some sympathy for Sudanese-born North Melbourne rookie Majak Daw - recently suspended by the Kangaroos for lying to coach Brad Scott.
He said he had spoken with the disappointed Daw several times since Daw's public humiliation. ''I just told him to stick with it, because he's been doing it tough.''
The multicultural program launch came in a week in which Liam Jurrah's plight has thrust the indigenous debate firmly into the public spotlight. The AFL has become increasingly concerned that some club recruiters are looking for excuses not to choose players from troubled backgrounds.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said yesterday: ''If we started not recruiting people in employment because of their background, or where they came from was too hard, then I'd have grave fears for this country. We are a much better industry because of the diverse nature of the player population … We're a much better country.''
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