They say sport is a reflection of a society’s collective ambition and a measure of its social equity.

And for a group of freshly arrived Afghan refugees, a visit to an AFL match was a first glimpse of Australian culture in action.

The Afghan group were fascinated by their first look at AFL with many were surprised that it is only played in Australia because of the high level of organisation and fan support.

“It is a very honest sport. I love the way they give the ball to opposition after committing a foul, instead of kicking the ball away like they do in soccer in order to delay the restart of the game,” one attendee said.

Thanks to support from AMES Australia’s corporate partner tech company MTX, the group of ten refugees and two community leaders as well as two AMES staff attended the recent Port Power Richmond AFL match at the Adelaide Oval.

Among the attendees was Zamargul, who only arrived in Adelaide two days before the game with his wife and three children, aged 9, 7 and 3.

Zamargul said he had heard about this game of Australian Rules and was already familiar with cricket, being a big fan of Glen Maxwell.

He said he was looking forward to building a future in Australia for his children and learning English.

Afghan evacuee Fahima Ahmadi also enjoyed watching the game and cheering when Port Power scored a goal.

Fahima was among the first Afghans to be evacuated and brought to Adelaide, after the Taliban took over Kabul in August of last year.

She worked as an Afghan interpreter for coalition forces for four years in Afghanistan. Fahima also worked as an Inspection Analyst for American Embassy in Kabul for a year. Fahima is now employed as Community Liaison Officer at AMRC in Adelaide.

Afghan community leader Raz helped to organise the trip to the footy.

He arrived in Australia eight and a half years ago after working with the Australian Defence Forces in Afghanistan.

Since 2015 he has been heavily involved in the leadership of his community as he likes working and supporting people here.

He has worked at Adelaide’s Lyell McEwan Hospital since 2015 and bought his own home in 2018.  Saturday evening was especially significant for him because he was able to accompany his brother Zamargul to the game.

Another attendee Abdul Rahim Akbari was a Judge in Kabul, Afghanistan for ten years and had to flee because threats from the Taliban. He arrived in Australia with his wife and five children in December 2021.

 Their first weeks were spent in a quarantine facility at Darwin.

Abdul says he felt a sense of safety on arriving in Australia and has since settled with his family in a home in the northern suburbs of Adelaide.

“I am improving my English and one day I hope to return to working in the law in Australia. But my first focus is on finding a job to support his family,” he said.

His 12-year-old son, Ahmad Saadat Akbari also attended the game and dreams of becoming a doctor.

AMES Senior Manager Settlement Services (SA) Michael Schultz said the trip to the footy was part of AMES’ ongoing strategy to introduce new arrivals to aspects of life in Australia and to build connections in the community as well, as a sense of belonging.

“It was wonderful to see everyone enjoying what is an archetypical Aussie experience,” Michael said.