Aliir Aliir’s Story – Sydney AFL Player and former refugee
Aliir Aliir of the Sydney Swans can’t wipe the smile off his face.
The first South Sudanese player to be recruited by an Australian Football League (AFL) club in the national draft has loved every minute of his time at the Sydney Swans ever since the club drafted him at the end of 2013.
It’s been quite a journey for Aliir to be a professional sportsman training at the iconic Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on a daily basis alongside the likes of Adam Goodes, Lance Franklin, Kieren Jack and Jarrad McVeigh.
Aliir was born in a Kenyan refugee camp after his parents fled war-torn South Sudan. He spent the majority of his early years playing soccer with kids from the camp before his family moved to Australia as refugees when Aliir was eight.
The family spent time in Sydney, Newcastle and eventually settled in Brisbane. Early in high school when Aliir was 14-years-old, a friend invited him to train at an Aussie rules club around the corner from his house.
A natural sportsman, Aliir excelled at the game and was instantly sucked into some of the intricacies of Australian football – like taking a ‘speccy’ on someone’s back.
Within a few years, Aliir made the Queensland state side and was invited to play for the world XVIII side at the under-16 national championships.
It was on a bus ride to a game for the world team where Aliir’s path would change one more time.
For the bus trip, he sat down next to his teammate Reuben from Perth, who turned out to be his long-lost cousin. The discovery prompted his mother Zainab to move the family to Western Australia to be closer to her sister and family.
Instead of moving west, Aliir decided to remain in Brisbane to give himself the best possible chance of following his dream of making it onto an AFL list.
Unfortunately for Aliir, he was overlooked in the draft, and moved back to Perth to be with family where he would play in the local WAFL competition.
One year later, after bouncing back from the disappointment of missing out, a positional change on the field led to a breakout season for Aliir which was ultimately rewarded with a place on the Sydney Swans’ list.
Recruited with the 44th pick in the 2013 national draft, Aliir became only the second Sudanese player to join an AFL club after Majak Daw was rookie listed by North Melbourne.
“Being selected by Sydney is unbelievable because I’m a Swans fan,” Aliir told reporters at the time.
“I’m pretty proud and humbled. Trying to get my head around just getting drafted is one thing, to be the first Sudanese player (in a national draft) makes it even more great.”
Aliir’s now working hard on his game as he strives to play a senior match for the Swans and run out onto a packed SCG alongside his teammates Adam Goodes, Lance Franklin, Kieren Jack and Jarrad McVeigh.
It’s fair to say his infectious smile won’t be going anywhere the day that happens.
