23 August 2016

By Lisa Tran, Year 11, Killester College, Springvale

Earlier in the year the VCAL class at Killester College were given the chance to enter the Multicultural AFL Footy Jumper Design competition. Killester College is an all girls Catholic secondary school with students coming from all different cultures.

I was excited about the competition, but didn’t think that I would win the Secondary Schools division. On the back of my AFL footy jumper I decided to draw a globe representing one nation with all cultures being treated equally. I really believe in multiculturalism. I drew hands from different races, which represent all cultures working together as a team. In my explanation I mentioned that my parents migrated to Australia in 1994 from Vietnam. They have always felt welcomed by the people in Australia and for this they are very thankful.

I submitted my design entry (pictured) but didn’t expect to hear more about it. Surprisingly my VCAL teacher, Mrs Kathleen Wilman, told me that my design was one of the seven shortlisted out of hundreds of entries. I was shocked, but also very happy. The next step was to get people to vote for me by selecting my design.

A few weeks later I was told that I had won the Secondary Schools Multiculturalism AFL Footy Jumper design competition. This means so much to me and I am very proud of myself. As part of my prize I was given 50 free AFL tickets, which I shared with friends, family, classmates and teachers. At the moment they are putting my design on a footy jumper and we are waiting to hear back from the AFL about our free one-hour footy clinic at Killester College.

I am grateful for the opportunity given to me by the AFL and want to thank all the people who voted for me.