Is this Canberra's most multicultural team?
Date
September 14, 2013
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Lee Gaskin
They're the United Nations of Canberra soccer who are chasing premiership glory.
Players from 12 different countries will combine for the Narrabundah men's team in Saturday's Capital League grand final against Queanbeyan City at the Hawker Football Centre.
The Narrabundah side has a truly global feel to it.
Along with four Australians and three Englishmen, there are players from South Africa, Canada, Spain, Macedonia, Peru, Chile, Ireland, Italy, Uruguay and Lebanon.
Australian striker Ken McDonald, the competition's leading goal-scorer with 18 for the season, said the diverse range of nationalities made for an eclectic mix.
''The club historically is a Spanish club, so that attracts a lot of the Spanish-speaking countries,'' McDonald said.
''When players come across from Uruguay or Chile, they normally navigate towards Narrabundah.
''It's also to do with our location that we're in - we're the only south-east Canberra side, so we get a lot of people who moved to that area.''
The Narrabundah club was founded in 1976 out of a merger between two regions that represented the Spanish migrant community, Woden Iberia SC and Melrose-Lyons SC.
Overcoming the language barrier is the team's biggest obstacle, although the world game has a way of speaking all dialects.
''Most of them speak fairly good English, there's only a couple that don't,'' McDonald said.
''The team's been basically together for the last two or three years now. There's a mixture of English and a bit of Spanish-speaking in there.
''Even the Australian and the Pommy guys are starting to speak a bit of Spanish.''
The Capital League is the second-tier competition in the ACT behind the Canberra National Premier League. If Narrabundah can lift the trophy, a traditional Spanish celebration will be in order.
''It's a common theme at this club, it's a chorizo and a beer,'' McDonald said.
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http://www.canberratimes.com.au/sport/football/is-this-canberras-most-multicultural-team-20130913-2tqio.html#ixzz2eohmFADE