Young African Australians Integrating Through Sport

Africa and Melbourne are very different and for immigrants and refugees from war torn areas like Sudan, fitting into a completely new city has its difficulties.

That sense of displacement often shows up in misbehaviour and disengagement with school. But one program is really kicking goals, or sinking baskets, to deliver recent arrivals from Africa a sense of belonging and community.

The Black Rhinos basketball program aimed at supporting young African-Australians is improving community engagement and academic performance. Afri-Aus Care and RMIT University co-designed the Black Rhinos Junior Basketball program for African-Australian young people and their families in southeast Melbourne, with the hope of improving their lives while keeping them out of trouble.

A recent report found the primary prevention program made a significant impact on the lives of young program participants, their families, teachers and school communities.
As a result, another three years of funding has been awarded by the Victorian Education Department and Brian M. Davis Trust.

Associate Professor Ronnie Egan from the RMIT Social Equity Research Centre said the Black Rhinos Junior Basketball program has helped bring students, their families and the community closer together.

“We worked with the community to co-design what a sports-based youth development program for African-Australians and their families would look like,” she said.

“As a result, we saw enhanced engagement with learning, leading to increased school attendance and better grades.

“By strengthening relationships and engagement with learning, we created a sense of belonging for a group of people who had long been denied that feeling.”

Afri-Aus Care CEO and Founder Selba-Gondoza Luka said key to the Junior Black Rhino’s success was the involvement of the African-Australian community from the design phase.

“If you work with the community to develop the program, it will have a better impact,” she said.

Select students at Narre Warren South P-12 and Cranbourne Carlisle Primary School were matched with youth mentors, who started basketball training and games during lunchtime at both schools and provided individual mentoring with a focus on building trust.

The program was underpinned by an indigenous African philosophy called UBUNTU, which prioritises reciprocity, mutuality, participation and inclusion for collective wellbeing.

Once youth mentors had established relationships with students and school staff, RMIT researchers worked with the mentors to develop workshops, some involving basketball, incorporating life-skills development activities.

Along with homework clubs, the mentors provided in-class support, which promoted student engagement and participation in class, enhancing the ability to cope with classroom challenges and distractions.

“In year seven I used to get mad over small things, cause fights ... portrayed as being bad and stuff ... Helping me to focus on school, control my anger ... (mentor name), he comes to my class, and talks about it and most of the time, he’s usually around when stuff happens, so like, he’s always trying to diffuse it, taking me for walks, control my anger ... some people muck around and they do something that makes me mad, but (mentor name) says to come to him and go for walk and get some water to calm me down, come back to class and finish my work.” – Junior Black Rhinos participant.

But perhaps the most special addition to the program was a weekly community gathering on Sundays, where children, relatives and community members gathered to play basketball, facilitated by a youth mentor.

While the children took part in basketball and the homework club, the Mammas - biological mothers, aunties or female carers of African descent - gathered to cook dinner for everyone.

Here, the community spirit thrived as everyone came together and formed stronger bonds over a meal, or as one of the Mammas put it: “It’s really important, everyone gets happy when they see food. Even our kids, as soon as they finish the homework, they’ll be running like is food ready? Like excitement, really excitement. They eat together. That is different than eating at home alone.”

Measuring Impact
Researchers spoke to participants, their families, mentors, teachers and support staff to gauge whether it had made a difference. Strategies such as in-class support, homework clubs and tutoring were all identified as effective measures.

The focus on personal development, such as fostering confidence, leadership skills and goal setting, was found to positively impact students' engagement with learning.

Using youth mentors was found to create multiple positive outcomes including students being more engaged, having greater trust in teachers and learning new life skills.

The program fostered a sense of belonging for young participants by building relationships with mentors and strengthening connections with peers, family and the community.

Commenting on the mentors’ engagement style, one teacher said: “… you can tell the students really look up to them and when they’re here they seek them out, they’re excited to see them, they’re excited to tell them about their week or what’s happened since they were last here.”

Read the report: An evaluation of the impact of the Black Rhinos Junior Basketball program, which was supported by a VicHealth Impact Research Grant.
Research team: Dr Rob Cunningham, Associate Professor Ronnie Egan, Dr Rachel Goff, Abraham Kuol, Professor Robyn Martin, Chi Nguyen, Dr Patrick O'Keefe, Dr Sarah Williams.