By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
FOOTY franks served in dosa bread or a serviette laden with samosas – both would be a culinary leap for most footy clubs.
But Dandenong-based Masala Football Club’s culinary flair and vibrant team has already proved a hit with fans and rival players.
It is far from an ordinary club, right down to its football-dotted star anise logo and its self-description as a “multicultural Aussie-Rules club”.
Starting from scratch two years ago, the club is now home to about 60 players.
Some have grown up with footy – like four indigenous youngsters Josh, JT, Deme and Alick from northern Queensland on a scholarship at St Joseph’s College in Ferntree Gully.
The club is pushing for Josh and JT to get a chance to try out for TAC Cup side Dandenong Stingrays.
There’s confidence that they have the speed and skills to play in the AFL.
Others like Sajeed, a sporty and buffed Hazara refugee, have never handled the oval ball.
He’s learning from scratch the art of marking, handballing and kicking – his accidental torp to the goalsquare at his first training session is cheered by his new teammates.
“One of the good things for refugee recruits is they quickly find 50 or more mates,” teammate Brad Parker said.
Club founders Trevor Banerjee, Ash Nugent and Fevin Mascarenhas started the club with a self-described goal of a multicultural Aussie Rules club. The club is like its namesake – a perfect mix of spices, Banerjee said.
The team – and what it stands for – has drawn applause and appreciative comments from most rival Victorian Amateur Football Association clubs after games.
“One of the things I was driven by was this country is built on the back of mateship. Footy can be a sterling example of how we celebrate mateship,” Banerjee said.
“On the ground it doesn’t matter what your culture, background, language is, everyone backs up each other.
“I’m very, very proud of that.”
Banerjee said the club for the first time had enough players for two sides, pitching together Indians, Pakistanis, Sri Lankans, Thais, Hazaras, Sudanese, indigenous Australians and Anglo-Celts.
The at-times brutal physicality of the game could be confronting to newcomers.
A sinewy Banerjee, by his own example, convinces potential recruits that they don’t have to be huge to play.
“They say ’you play Aussie rules?’”
At a gusty pre-season training session at Lois Twohig Reserve last week, the sounds and energy would be instantly familiar to Aussie Rules fans.
Players urging each other through passing drills, praising each other’s toil, celebrating each snapped goal.
Brett ‘Robbo’ Robinson, recently-appointed as the club’s first-ever coach, likes the level of talk but tells the boys their enthusiasm is down.
“The way you warm up sets up the way you train,” he lectures the boys.
He believes in the talent at the club, backed by a gruelling pre-season regimen, better teamwork and tactics, will greatly improve on last season’s solitary win.
“The way the players have picked up the skills and cohesion is unbelievable.”
Banerjee has plans to reach out to the wider community. He speaks of fielding womens and juniors teams.
“We want to let them know footy is just a platform. We’re a community hub.”
For more details visit facebook.com/MasalaFC or phone 0433 313 852.
