In the V/AFL’s 126-year history, only 32 of the 13,000-plus players have Asian ancestry.
For many football followers, Jong is the face of Asian involvement in the game. Noted for his courage and tenacity, Jong played 65 games for the Western Bulldogs, where he is a life member for 10 years of service. An ill-timed injury – one of many that blighted his career – at the start of the 2016 finals series cost him the chance to be part of the Dogs’ historic premiership that year.
“Maybe it’s irrational. It’s hard to explain if you haven’t been through it, or done it, or been in that position where you’re the only person of your kind in a place full of white people,” Jong said. Jong did not see himself as a role model for the Asian community until late in his career when he was more comfortable with his identity, as opposed to just wanting to fit in.
“It’s something that will bond any person of my heritage,” Davies said. “I was the only kid growing up of my background that I knew not playing a musical instrument.” Though Lin was racially vilified online by a Magpies supporter on the night she was drafted, she feels welcomed by the inclusive culture of the women’s competition.
“They didn’t want me to play because it was too rough. The time commitment to do something like that, they’d rather I studied and be in the books.” He has noticed more involvement from Asian-Australians in the game. Recently, he asked Lin and her manager Jamie Pi to speak at an event to the Chinese Australian community.
Pi came to Australia in 1993 as a 12-year-old who could not speak English. Football became his passion. Adopting the game in 1994, Pi, 43, still plays at his original club Keysborough.
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