Pasifika diaspora and the changing face of Australian rugby league

Lakisa, D; Adair, D; Taylor, T

Pasifika diaspora and the changing face of Australian rugby league

Lakisa, D

Adair, D

Taylor, T

Permalink

Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Contemporary Pacific, 2014, 26 (2), pp. 347 - 367
Issue Date:: 2014-01-01

Open Access

Copyright Clearance Process

Recently Added
In Progress
Open Access

This item is open access.

Adobe PDF

Download Published VersionAdobe PDF (420.27 kB)

View on publisher's site

View statistics

Full metadata record

Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Lakisa, D https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5556-3132	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Adair, D https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7998-3414	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Taylor, T https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8847-7692	en_US
dc.date.issued	2014-01-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Contemporary Pacific, 2014, 26 (2), pp. 347 - 367	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	1043-898X	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/37548
dc.description.abstract	© 2014 by University of Hawai‘i Press. This article investigates the sociocultural motivations of the Pasifika diaspora in Australian sport in the context of rugby league football. In 2011, some 36 percent of National Rugby League (nrl) playing contracts were signed by players of Pasifika descent (Heptonstall 2011). There has been an accompanying rise of Pasifika influence in the game: this is apparent on the field with the high profile of star Pasifika players and off the field with the intensification of welfare and education programs intended to accommodate Pasifika athletes in the National Rugby League. The purpose of this article is to critically analyze kinship networks, religious influences, and the sociocultural expectations placed on Pasifika footballers by various stakeholders and to evaluate how these factors either motivate these athletes to play in the National Rugby League or discourage them from doing so. The article explores what these experiences reveal about the nature of Pasifika communities in an Australian context. The material presented draws on the principal author’s original research on Australian rugby league and the experience of athletes of Pasifika descent, as well as his direct experience as a former sports education administrator and as the inaugural Pacific Islander coaching and development officer for the New South Wales Rugby League.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Contemporary Pacific	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1353/cp.2014.0029	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Anthropology	en_US
dc.title	Pasifika diaspora and the changing face of Australian rugby league	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	2	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	26	en_US
utslib.for	2002 Cultural Studies	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/e-Press
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Students
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	2	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	26	en_US

Abstract:

© 2014 by University of Hawai‘i Press. This article investigates the sociocultural motivations of the Pasifika diaspora in Australian sport in the context of rugby league football. In 2011, some 36 percent of National Rugby League (nrl) playing contracts were signed by players of Pasifika descent (Heptonstall 2011). There has been an accompanying rise of Pasifika influence in the game: this is apparent on the field with the high profile of star Pasifika players and off the field with the intensification of welfare and education programs intended to accommodate Pasifika athletes in the National Rugby League. The purpose of this article is to critically analyze kinship networks, religious influences, and the sociocultural expectations placed on Pasifika footballers by various stakeholders and to evaluate how these factors either motivate these athletes to play in the National Rugby League or discourage them from doing so. The article explores what these experiences reveal about the nature of Pasifika communities in an Australian context. The material presented draws on the principal author’s original research on Australian rugby league and the experience of athletes of Pasifika descent, as well as his direct experience as a former sports education administrator and as the inaugural Pacific Islander coaching and development officer for the New South Wales Rugby League.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/37548