Sydney Swans AFL multicultural ambassador Aliir Aliir teamed up with representatives from Cricket NSW and the NRL to take part in a Harmony Sports Day in Sydney’s west on Tuesday morning.

Aliir joined Sydney Thunder's Nazir Shinwari and former NRL star Joe Galuvao to introduce over 60 newly arrived people seeking asylum to three of Australia’s favourite sporting codes.

The theme of the Harmony Sports Day, ‘Everyone Belongs’, took place a day after Australia’s National Harmony Day and the United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The sports day, made possible by the collaborative approach from AFL NSW/ACT, NRL, Cricket NSW and the Red Cross, was an opportunity to provide awareness of common sports played in Australia and the opportunities they have to get involved. 

Aliir, who migrated to Australia with his family from Kenya when he was aged nine, became an AFL Multicultural Ambassador last season and said it was great to be involved in the day.

“This is one of the reasons I wanted to become a multicultural ambassador because I’m a refugee myself,” Aliir said.

“I found it hard when I first came to Australia, the only way I could connect with people was through sport.

“It’s just a wonderful thing to come out here and try a few different sports and hopefully a few kids here get into AFL and love it.”

AFL NSW/ACT’s multicultural programs manager Nickie Flambouras said the event showed how the different sporting codes can unite to make a difference in the community.

“Today started off from a very simple conversation to offer people seeking asylum the opportunity to experience Australian sports,” Flambouras said.

“(With AFL NSW/ACT, NRL and Cricket NSW) all connected to the Red Cross we thought we could all come together and run an event during Harmony Week to see if we can introduce people to different Australian sports.”