Southern Tasmanian Badminton Association – Sport bridging cultural divides
0:00:38.910,0:00:44.450
Badminton is like a language. You know, we
talk languages but this bridges languages,
0:00:44.450,0:00:46.020
it bridges cultural divides.
0:00:46.020,0:00:53.020
This sport has given me an opportunity to
know many friends and also many other cultures
0:00:53.020,0:00:53.590
to.
0:00:53.590,0:01:00.590
The idea is to allow people to pursue their
interests and the things that kind of make
0:01:00.840,0:01:02.260
them tick as a human being.
0:01:02.260,0:01:05.300
It makes me more confident to talk to other
people - to locals
0:01:05.300,0:01:12.300
I just love training people, coaching people.
The CALD group brings a whole new perspective.
0:01:12.720,0:01:16.860
They're selfless people. They give and they
give and I think we can learn a lot from their
0:01:16.860,0:01:19.830
culture and I think they give us so much more
than what we give them.
0:01:19.830,0:01:24.450
You open up yourself to different things.
It makes you more worldly
0:01:24.450,0:01:31.450
They may have come here for a particular reason
around study but there are a whole lot of
0:01:37.220,0:01:41.960
aspirations they have and experiences that
they want to have while they are here so we
0:01:41.960,0:01:45.080
help them to network into the community to
help find those
0:01:45.080,0:01:50.410
When I first came to Australia I only started
in the university gym.
0:01:50.410,0:01:56.270
It wasn't really enough. One day we were driving
past, we saw the
0:01:56.270,0:02:01.270
badminton centre. We thought it was going
to be a multi-purpose hall
0:02:01.270,0:02:05.280
but when we came here we saw 12 courts dedicated
to badminton the
0:02:05.280,0:02:11.069
sport itself and we got really interested.
So I got a lot of my
0:02:11.069,0:02:14.950
friends to come along and soon the badminton
club also came here
0:02:14.950,0:02:20.080
Badminton being a universal sport, in Tasmania
in particular,
0:02:20.080,0:02:25.410
it has been very very centred around Caucasians.
Very few Asians
0:02:25.410,0:02:29.569
were playing. It was thought that there was
an ideal opportunity,
0:02:29.569,0:02:33.060
with many international students at the university,
that there
0:02:33.060,0:02:37.599
was an untapped market, so we encouraged them
to come in. Its
0:02:37.599,0:02:41.890
expanded our competition, given it more depth.
Its just been a
0:02:41.890,0:02:46.810
much better experience for everybody.
0:02:46.810,0:02:53.810
I improved my English because I have met a
lot of locals. Yeh that
0:02:57.750,0:02:59.340
helped me a lot with badminton
0:02:59.340,0:03:03.270
It's also been good because people have been
in administrative
0:03:03.270,0:03:09.280
roles, so they have learnt skills in terms
of organisation,
0:03:09.280,0:03:13.060
communication and planning. Some of those
skills that they have
0:03:13.060,0:03:15.230
learnt in our program they have been able
to translate into
0:03:15.230,0:03:17.200
other aspects of their life.
0:03:17.200,0:03:20.160
Individuals who are settling in Australia
who are better
0:03:20.160,0:03:23.450
networked, are safer, we know that. We know
that they feel
0:03:23.450,0:03:27.680
safer and that they actually are safer to
any of the issues
0:03:27.680,0:03:30.370
that they might come across, be it whether
its safety in the
0:03:30.370,0:03:33.250
street or people taking advantage of them
in employment
0:03:33.250,0:03:38.350
Many people think that when they play singles
they are only
0:03:38.350,0:03:42.420
alone but it's always the team effort that
makes that person
0:03:42.420,0:03:46.650
feel well. So it's always the inspiring, the
communication
0:03:46.650,0:03:49.900
and the feedback between the team that is
very important
0:03:49.900,0:03:52.630
When they are playing and improving they are
getting better
0:03:52.630,0:03:55.490
technically. They are getting better mentally
and they think
0:03:55.490,0:03:57.930
to themselves if I can do far better than
I've ever done on
0:03:57.930,0:04:00.450
the badminton court why can't I do it in other
aspects of
0:04:00.450,0:04:05.790
my life.
0:04:05.790,0:04:11.150
In Australia they normally put you into a
team and then you
0:04:11.150,0:04:18.150
play as a team. That's what was very different.
When I first
0:04:18.350,0:04:21.660
came here I didn't really understand how to
actually play
0:04:21.660,0:04:22.699
in a team.
0:04:22.699,0:04:27.430
Obviously the biggest challenge is communication.
Quite often
0:04:27.430,0:04:31.949
you get people whose English is limited so
it's a matter of
0:04:31.949,0:04:35.169
being able to get the message across about
what I'm trying
0:04:35.169,0:04:36.400
to tell them.
0:04:36.400,0:04:38.800
People have different prayer times so we have
to try and
0:04:38.800,0:04:42.400
accommodate hitting times that will suit them.
They have
0:04:42.400,0:04:43.889
difficulties in terms of transport.
0:04:43.889,0:04:47.660
I think it's a little bit expensive. Some
of the new
0:04:47.660,0:04:52.280
students who have come to the hostel where
I'm staying,
0:04:52.280,0:04:55.410
are very interested after last night's CALD
Come and Try
0:04:55.410,0:04:59.810
event but, when they heard about the price,
they got quite
0:04:59.810,0:05:00.250
a shock
0:05:00.250,0:05:01.990
To start with, when we looked at the program,
we thought
0:05:01.990,0:05:04.960
well what are the challenges that we need
to overcome.
0:05:04.960,0:05:07.060
So what we did, we were very fortunate to
engage Ernest
0:05:07.060,0:05:09.940
and he has done a huge amount of work in terms
of engaging
0:05:09.940,0:05:13.860
communities. Ernest has been out talking to
the communities,
0:05:13.860,0:05:19.560
trying to understand what their needs are,
help them achieve
0:05:19.560,0:05:21.010
what they need to do in terms of playing our
sport. So he
0:05:21.010,0:05:24.139
has been out engaging them and it takes about
a three or
0:05:24.139,0:05:30.620
four month turnaround. Its developing a sense
of trust.
0:05:30.620,0:05:37.620
For me it's about getting on the coattails
of those
0:05:39.840,0:05:42.940
(international) students with the gregarious
personalities
0:05:42.940,0:05:45.970
and supporting the students who find it a
little more
0:05:45.970,0:05:46.380
intimidating.
0:05:46.380,0:05:50.150
The committee at the Southern Tasmania Badminton
Association,
0:05:50.150,0:05:55.930
they always ask us what we think needs changing.
(They ask us)
0:05:55.930,0:06:00.190
do you want to play our rosters? Do you want
to play our
0:06:00.190,0:06:03.380
state tournaments?
0:06:03.380,0:06:09.800
The manager set up event Facebook pages to
invite people
0:06:09.800,0:06:12.620
that he knows and hence people he knows will
invite their
0:06:12.620,0:06:15.780
friends and things like that. So I would say
that there
0:06:15.780,0:06:22.780
is a strong back up from our social network.
0:06:27.120,0:06:30.449
If you say it to me that's one thing but if
say it to me
0:06:30.449,0:06:32.470
and the person who has just helped me find
a house says
0:06:32.470,0:06:35.990
it to me, then I just go actually this sounds
like a good
0:06:35.990,0:06:40.240
idea. I think we need the double check. So
if you find
0:06:40.240,0:06:42.650
your way to market through someone or organisation
that
0:06:42.650,0:06:48.550
people already know or already trust, then
I think that
0:06:48.550,0:06:50.610
makes the process a lot easier
0:06:50.610,0:06:52.550
When you engage them, don't engage them only
one time
0:06:52.550,0:06:54.820
and don't follow it up. You need to have the
momentum
0:06:54.820,0:06:56.300
to actually keep it going
0:06:56.300,0:06:59.150
Speaking with the CALD group you need to be
a little
0:06:59.150,0:07:01.710
bit more articulate, you need to explain yourself
a
0:07:01.710,0:07:04.020
little bit more clearly. So you're actually
putting
0:07:04.020,0:07:05.860
a lot more into it and you get a lot more
back
0:07:05.860,0:07:10.120
Firstly I would tell them that we have a very
structured
0:07:10.120,0:07:12.650
place to play. We have a place to play, we
have rosters
0:07:12.650,0:07:17.870
to play, we have fun people to play with,
and definitely
0:07:17.870,0:07:22.620
we have events with food. So yeh Malaysians
love food so
0:07:22.620,0:07:24.960
if there are activities plus food we'll come
0:07:24.960,0:07:31.960
You can come and play and enjoy yourself.
It's fun. You
0:07:37.030,0:07:41.370
get to meet new people so you don't get bound
to your
0:07:41.370,0:07:45.680
own community. You can improve yourself - communication
skills and confidence.
0:07:45.680,0:07:50.169
When people are part of something together
they have this
0:07:50.169,0:07:55.229
amazing bonding experience which remains when
you walk away
0:07:55.229,0:07:57.370
The confidence that they develop in their
game in terms
0:07:57.370,0:08:02.060
of improving themselves and their self confidence
transforms into other aspects in terms of
0:08:02.060,0:08:06.210
their study
and their ability to achieve results at university
0:08:06.210,0:08:11.740
but
also in their ability to be able to seek work
0:08:11.740,0:08:15.100
and earn
money and feel comfortable in our local community.
0:08:15.100,0:08:18.949
By hitting their soft spot - the things that
they like,
0:08:18.949,0:08:23.960
they actually (respond). Basically talk sense
to them.
0:08:23.960,0:08:26.360
Try to pull them in for once at least and
then when
0:08:26.360,0:08:28.610
they actually like it you don't need to do
much
0:08:28.610,0:08:29.290
they just come.
Badminton is like a language. You know, we
talk languages but this bridges languages,
0:00:44.450,0:00:46.020
it bridges cultural divides.
0:00:46.020,0:00:53.020
This sport has given me an opportunity to
know many friends and also many other cultures
0:00:53.020,0:00:53.590
to.
0:00:53.590,0:01:00.590
The idea is to allow people to pursue their
interests and the things that kind of make
0:01:00.840,0:01:02.260
them tick as a human being.
0:01:02.260,0:01:05.300
It makes me more confident to talk to other
people - to locals
0:01:05.300,0:01:12.300
I just love training people, coaching people.
The CALD group brings a whole new perspective.
0:01:12.720,0:01:16.860
They're selfless people. They give and they
give and I think we can learn a lot from their
0:01:16.860,0:01:19.830
culture and I think they give us so much more
than what we give them.
0:01:19.830,0:01:24.450
You open up yourself to different things.
It makes you more worldly
0:01:24.450,0:01:31.450
They may have come here for a particular reason
around study but there are a whole lot of
0:01:37.220,0:01:41.960
aspirations they have and experiences that
they want to have while they are here so we
0:01:41.960,0:01:45.080
help them to network into the community to
help find those
0:01:45.080,0:01:50.410
When I first came to Australia I only started
in the university gym.
0:01:50.410,0:01:56.270
It wasn't really enough. One day we were driving
past, we saw the
0:01:56.270,0:02:01.270
badminton centre. We thought it was going
to be a multi-purpose hall
0:02:01.270,0:02:05.280
but when we came here we saw 12 courts dedicated
to badminton the
0:02:05.280,0:02:11.069
sport itself and we got really interested.
So I got a lot of my
0:02:11.069,0:02:14.950
friends to come along and soon the badminton
club also came here
0:02:14.950,0:02:20.080
Badminton being a universal sport, in Tasmania
in particular,
0:02:20.080,0:02:25.410
it has been very very centred around Caucasians.
Very few Asians
0:02:25.410,0:02:29.569
were playing. It was thought that there was
an ideal opportunity,
0:02:29.569,0:02:33.060
with many international students at the university,
that there
0:02:33.060,0:02:37.599
was an untapped market, so we encouraged them
to come in. Its
0:02:37.599,0:02:41.890
expanded our competition, given it more depth.
Its just been a
0:02:41.890,0:02:46.810
much better experience for everybody.
0:02:46.810,0:02:53.810
I improved my English because I have met a
lot of locals. Yeh that
0:02:57.750,0:02:59.340
helped me a lot with badminton
0:02:59.340,0:03:03.270
It's also been good because people have been
in administrative
0:03:03.270,0:03:09.280
roles, so they have learnt skills in terms
of organisation,
0:03:09.280,0:03:13.060
communication and planning. Some of those
skills that they have
0:03:13.060,0:03:15.230
learnt in our program they have been able
to translate into
0:03:15.230,0:03:17.200
other aspects of their life.
0:03:17.200,0:03:20.160
Individuals who are settling in Australia
who are better
0:03:20.160,0:03:23.450
networked, are safer, we know that. We know
that they feel
0:03:23.450,0:03:27.680
safer and that they actually are safer to
any of the issues
0:03:27.680,0:03:30.370
that they might come across, be it whether
its safety in the
0:03:30.370,0:03:33.250
street or people taking advantage of them
in employment
0:03:33.250,0:03:38.350
Many people think that when they play singles
they are only
0:03:38.350,0:03:42.420
alone but it's always the team effort that
makes that person
0:03:42.420,0:03:46.650
feel well. So it's always the inspiring, the
communication
0:03:46.650,0:03:49.900
and the feedback between the team that is
very important
0:03:49.900,0:03:52.630
When they are playing and improving they are
getting better
0:03:52.630,0:03:55.490
technically. They are getting better mentally
and they think
0:03:55.490,0:03:57.930
to themselves if I can do far better than
I've ever done on
0:03:57.930,0:04:00.450
the badminton court why can't I do it in other
aspects of
0:04:00.450,0:04:05.790
my life.
0:04:05.790,0:04:11.150
In Australia they normally put you into a
team and then you
0:04:11.150,0:04:18.150
play as a team. That's what was very different.
When I first
0:04:18.350,0:04:21.660
came here I didn't really understand how to
actually play
0:04:21.660,0:04:22.699
in a team.
0:04:22.699,0:04:27.430
Obviously the biggest challenge is communication.
Quite often
0:04:27.430,0:04:31.949
you get people whose English is limited so
it's a matter of
0:04:31.949,0:04:35.169
being able to get the message across about
what I'm trying
0:04:35.169,0:04:36.400
to tell them.
0:04:36.400,0:04:38.800
People have different prayer times so we have
to try and
0:04:38.800,0:04:42.400
accommodate hitting times that will suit them.
They have
0:04:42.400,0:04:43.889
difficulties in terms of transport.
0:04:43.889,0:04:47.660
I think it's a little bit expensive. Some
of the new
0:04:47.660,0:04:52.280
students who have come to the hostel where
I'm staying,
0:04:52.280,0:04:55.410
are very interested after last night's CALD
Come and Try
0:04:55.410,0:04:59.810
event but, when they heard about the price,
they got quite
0:04:59.810,0:05:00.250
a shock
0:05:00.250,0:05:01.990
To start with, when we looked at the program,
we thought
0:05:01.990,0:05:04.960
well what are the challenges that we need
to overcome.
0:05:04.960,0:05:07.060
So what we did, we were very fortunate to
engage Ernest
0:05:07.060,0:05:09.940
and he has done a huge amount of work in terms
of engaging
0:05:09.940,0:05:13.860
communities. Ernest has been out talking to
the communities,
0:05:13.860,0:05:19.560
trying to understand what their needs are,
help them achieve
0:05:19.560,0:05:21.010
what they need to do in terms of playing our
sport. So he
0:05:21.010,0:05:24.139
has been out engaging them and it takes about
a three or
0:05:24.139,0:05:30.620
four month turnaround. Its developing a sense
of trust.
0:05:30.620,0:05:37.620
For me it's about getting on the coattails
of those
0:05:39.840,0:05:42.940
(international) students with the gregarious
personalities
0:05:42.940,0:05:45.970
and supporting the students who find it a
little more
0:05:45.970,0:05:46.380
intimidating.
0:05:46.380,0:05:50.150
The committee at the Southern Tasmania Badminton
Association,
0:05:50.150,0:05:55.930
they always ask us what we think needs changing.
(They ask us)
0:05:55.930,0:06:00.190
do you want to play our rosters? Do you want
to play our
0:06:00.190,0:06:03.380
state tournaments?
0:06:03.380,0:06:09.800
The manager set up event Facebook pages to
invite people
0:06:09.800,0:06:12.620
that he knows and hence people he knows will
invite their
0:06:12.620,0:06:15.780
friends and things like that. So I would say
that there
0:06:15.780,0:06:22.780
is a strong back up from our social network.
0:06:27.120,0:06:30.449
If you say it to me that's one thing but if
say it to me
0:06:30.449,0:06:32.470
and the person who has just helped me find
a house says
0:06:32.470,0:06:35.990
it to me, then I just go actually this sounds
like a good
0:06:35.990,0:06:40.240
idea. I think we need the double check. So
if you find
0:06:40.240,0:06:42.650
your way to market through someone or organisation
that
0:06:42.650,0:06:48.550
people already know or already trust, then
I think that
0:06:48.550,0:06:50.610
makes the process a lot easier
0:06:50.610,0:06:52.550
When you engage them, don't engage them only
one time
0:06:52.550,0:06:54.820
and don't follow it up. You need to have the
momentum
0:06:54.820,0:06:56.300
to actually keep it going
0:06:56.300,0:06:59.150
Speaking with the CALD group you need to be
a little
0:06:59.150,0:07:01.710
bit more articulate, you need to explain yourself
a
0:07:01.710,0:07:04.020
little bit more clearly. So you're actually
putting
0:07:04.020,0:07:05.860
a lot more into it and you get a lot more
back
0:07:05.860,0:07:10.120
Firstly I would tell them that we have a very
structured
0:07:10.120,0:07:12.650
place to play. We have a place to play, we
have rosters
0:07:12.650,0:07:17.870
to play, we have fun people to play with,
and definitely
0:07:17.870,0:07:22.620
we have events with food. So yeh Malaysians
love food so
0:07:22.620,0:07:24.960
if there are activities plus food we'll come
0:07:24.960,0:07:31.960
You can come and play and enjoy yourself.
It's fun. You
0:07:37.030,0:07:41.370
get to meet new people so you don't get bound
to your
0:07:41.370,0:07:45.680
own community. You can improve yourself - communication
skills and confidence.
0:07:45.680,0:07:50.169
When people are part of something together
they have this
0:07:50.169,0:07:55.229
amazing bonding experience which remains when
you walk away
0:07:55.229,0:07:57.370
The confidence that they develop in their
game in terms
0:07:57.370,0:08:02.060
of improving themselves and their self confidence
transforms into other aspects in terms of
0:08:02.060,0:08:06.210
their study
and their ability to achieve results at university
0:08:06.210,0:08:11.740
but
also in their ability to be able to seek work
0:08:11.740,0:08:15.100
and earn
money and feel comfortable in our local community.
0:08:15.100,0:08:18.949
By hitting their soft spot - the things that
they like,
0:08:18.949,0:08:23.960
they actually (respond). Basically talk sense
to them.
0:08:23.960,0:08:26.360
Try to pull them in for once at least and
then when
0:08:26.360,0:08:28.610
they actually like it you don't need to do
much
0:08:28.610,0:08:29.290
they just come.
