Essay On Adam Goodes

Adam Goodes is one of the most well known Australian Football Players of all time, for both his elite sporting skill which won him many important awards which led to achieving major milestones, or the controversy surrounding him because of the cultural barrier between Indigenous Australians and white Australians. Goodes actions sparked a uproar between the AFL fans, commentators and teams with some saying that he was in the right the whole time while others opposed him, even still to this day.

In June, During a match between Carlton and the Sidney Swans, Goodes' team, after scoring a goal he chanted with a Indigenous war cry which was directed towards the Carlton fans sitting in the stadium's stands. The war cry ended with the infamous 'imaginary spear throw' which visibly angered the Carlton crowd who then started to boo the Indigenous footballer. This booing didn't just

last for a few minuets as normal footy fan usually go on for, but every time Goodes scored a goal or even if he went near the ball, this lasted every single game that he attended till the day of his retirement. The next day Adam made the statement “I haven’t had an opportunity to show that passion, and that pride about being a warrior and representing my people and where I come from, there was nothing untoward to the Carlton supporters. It was actually something for them to stand up and go, ‘yep we see you, and we acknowledge you – bring it on".The dance was created by an indigenous under 16s footy club and taught to Goodes a few nights before the match, Goodes claims that he wanted the under 16s team to be proud to see their chant in an professional stadium with millions watching. When the most loved and famous AFL commentator Dennis Cometti was asked about the controversy he said “Probably best not to do it, Won’t stop the booing.” (Safi, 2015), Dermott Brereton, didn't approve of the dance, “To actually run at somebody in a war dance ... it actually signifies ‘I want to be violent against you’,” he said. “No good can come of it.”

During a game between Sydney and Collingwood, when Adam Goodes ran to the Boundary of the oval to grab the ball, a young 13 year old girl from the stands shouted the word 'ape' at him.

Goodes called over security who then kicked her out of the stadium, she went to social media to vent about the events that just occurred, she claims that she didn't know that the word didn't have any racist connotations. Pictures of the footballer on Wikipedia were changed to pictures of apes and monkeys. “To hear a 13-year-old girl call me an ape ... it was shattering,” Goodes said. “Racism has a face. It’s a 13-year-old girl.” (Humanrights.gov.au, 2016). He made it apparent that he wasn't disappointed at the the young girl but at her parents who have taught her racist ways of thinking, this sparked a large discussion in all types of media, asking if she was old enough to understand what she was really saying. In 2014 Goodes was given Australian of the year, one of the highest honours in the country, he then started called Australia Day, the day when Europeans landed on the shores of now Sydney, to Invasion

Day.

Despite the racism Goodes had endured for his whole life, ever since Goodes debuted in 1999 he has been praised under the publics eye for winning both the Sydney Swan's and the AFL Rising Star award within the same year. The major sort after award is the Brownlow Medal which is only given the the top tier players, one of them being Adam Goodes when he won two in 2003 and 2006 respectively. The other awards that he has earned are: All-Australian (2003, 2006, 2009, 2011), All-Australian nominee (2010), International Rules Series
(2001, 2010), Indigenous Team of the Century, AFLCA Player of the Year 2006 and Premiership Side (2005, 2012) (sydneyswans.com.au, 2016). Goodes will always have 372
games to his name with 464 goals from over his whole AFL career.

Adam Goodes has had racism thrown at him from different types of fans and football veterans, with it affecting him greatly. His reaction and how he deals with the situations that he is involved in, are not the most ethical