But I do believe there will be a British Asian playing top tier football soon.

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There was : Zesh Rehman

- Yeah Toplad. There's quite a few on here, which definitely surprises me. [Does go to show our interest in the sport].

I'm from the UK, parents from Pakistan, you?

is it the way you were brought up though??

if you were living in india/pakistan or wherever you were born, and you excelled at cricket or hockey, would your parents deter you from playing one of these sports or would that be different because these sports are more popular in your home country??

Darkphoenix . Yeah might quite a lot of Asians on here. Few on the Arsenal board too.

Ah right. I am from the UK too, but parents from India.

Don't know why, but surprised you're Asian .

I think with us Iraqi's, we are encouraged to become doctors etc but if we got a career in football then it'll be great purely because of the money it could make for you if you reach professional level. I don't think there's any Iraqi's playing professional football in this country though

comment by dunc_ go go gadget legs!! (U11713)
posted 1 minute ago
is it the way you were brought up though??

if you were living in india/pakistan or wherever you were born, and you excelled at cricket or hockey, would your parents deter you from playing one of these sports or would that be different because these sports are more popular in your home country??
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It I was growing up in India and excelled in Cricket or Hockey, I would probably be pushed to doing one of them sports. But it all depends on the family.

Some parents just want a Doctor or a daughter/son that will provide a good stable income with a good reputation. It's just how it is.

The new generation of British Asians will probably be encouraged to play more sports imo.

I would'nt say it was just an asian thing for parents who were doctors lawyers etc to want their kids to follow in their footsteps, i would say white middle class people such as doctors, lawyers etc would do the same, the majority of footballers i would suggest would come from a working class background. Middle and upper class would be more rugby union, sailing, tennis etc.

toplad,

so do you think its more of a fear of the unknown for many asian parents.

like you say, if you were in your home country and you exceeded in hockey or cricket you would have more chance.

i think ( and i may be wrong ) that a lot of it could be down to the fact that sports like football and rugby are pretty unknown sports in the likes of india.

had there been a succesful indian football team, maybe more youngsters would have been encouraged to take up the sport.

i guess its similar to me as a kid saying to my mum i wanna give up my studies to try sumo wrestling or Kabaddi

Toplad - That's why I said it, I was surprised you were asian too

I think it is that way Dunc for the parents of this current generation. They were never fortunate to have the opportunities that we have now, with a majority of asian parents simply uneducated, however they push and push their children into a good career so they don't go through the dead-end job hardships they have faced themselves. It's more of a safety net for them, then to go on and pursue something that has no guarantee.

Whenever I do parents evening at school, every asian parent I get always ends up bollocking his child the next day if I tell them they are just fecking about in school. They most likely even get the slipper to the backside a few times too.

Arab is right though, maybe the new generation will be encouraged towards that field.


ALSO, to become a cricketer in Pakistan is pretty much becoming a celebrity so parents do encourage their kids to go down that route if they can, but believe me, they make them work twice as hard in school.

MARK, I would say the same but then again I know a lot of Asians who are pushed into it and have it drummed into them from a very young age that they should either be a doctor. My older brother is a doctor. I even have 3 cousins who are doctors.

I don't buy the 'genetic' argument. In some sports where it is all about body size / shape / strength, particular body types will dominate: e.g. east Africans in long distance running, people of west African descent in sprinting, freakishly tall people in basketball. In football there are different roles and different ways of solving a problem on the field: some of the greatest players haven't been particularly big or strong or fast.

We're already seeing people from the Far East demonstrate that when there is a football culture, top quality players can be produced. (Note, despite China's size, it actually has a tiny proportion of its population actively playing football.) I'm sure if south Asians start playing in significant numbers and enough of those with talent are committed to the game (resisting the dark temptation to study and fall into a respectable middle class career), plenty of professionals will appear.

I think it is above all a cultural matter.

Dunc, rugby is virtually unknown in India. Although I played Rugby and football at a high level throughout my childhood and teenage years until I went off to uni this year. My parents allowed me to play but they never really let me get too carried away with it and always wanted me to revert back to type and spend hours studying.

I think it is the fear of not making it, and then finding it hard to get a job that pays well. Our culture has a heavily influence on family and money and pride.

Give it 20 years, I believe we'll see more Asians in English football. 20 years ago John Barnes was often one of the only black Englishmen called up I think. It is not just England where there's been a rise in multi-culturing. Young players in different countries show the change like England with black players, Spain have Pedro Obiang, Jonas Romalho coming through. Italy have Ogbonna, Balotelli, Okaka, and even counteies like Austria and Czech Republic have Alaba and Selassie. The American team has more Latino players and in Japan there's a young striker who looks Caucasian, playing in the A-league and has a Western name but is half-Japanese and plays for Japan. Matter of time before we see more Asian-British players in the English leagues.

It depends on how the child is brought up really. If the parents encourage football, the child will play it more often. Being from an Asian background, my parents would always encourage me to concentrate on my studies and to not take too much interest in football. Thats the norm in Indian/ Pakistani families these days.

This is an interesting article for sure. As a "white " or should I say Caucasian(?) living in Asia/ Malaysia for a very long time married to Asian (Chinese) I can tell you quite categorically that culture and education are a big part of the question. As has been suggested by several writers here , education comes first before any other priority. There is so much stiff competition to get into the 'better" schools and universities that it is hardly surprising that sport is relegated , by the vast majority of Asians , to the lowest tier of priority.
I do not agree with it but most Asian mums will discourage love of sport very early on.

comment by #TopLad - MUFC || Rooney,RVP,Kagawa || (U10161) posted 9 hours, 4 minutes ago
comment by Latvian Phil (U2440)
posted 48 minutes ago
I think its because genetically Asians are inferior at proper sport be it football rugby athletics or boxing.
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Boxing?

Amir Khan, Prince Naseem..


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They are both British Toplad

Amir is born and bred Bolton and The Prince Sheffield

That may be so, but place of birth doesn't really affect your genetic make up in the same way that your parents do...

I am asian too and was very active in sport as youngster. I have known a few asian guys who got trials for football clubs etc.

I dont buy into the whole culture and genetics argument at all based on what I have seen. I think people need to look at the institutions too.

I use cricket as the example. As a pakistani and of the age I am now I know that cricket runs in the blood for pakistanis. Yet you dont see many making the grade at a top level. There must be a reason other than culture/wanting to be doctors etc. If you look at the pakistan national team then you see the natural talent that is there in abundance. Often being left to rot because of internal politics ie money.

In england its less money and your face fitting. people will say what they say but its sadly true.

Another problem with Asian parents is they care too much about 'what will the community say'. If their child becomes a doctor, lawyer, accountant, they have bragging rights and can say with pride to their neighbour etc "my son's a doctor".

Becoming a footballer isn't something they want their kids to become. It's quite annoying how much south Asian parents care too much about 'what other people will think'.

http://youtu.be/jkN9VdjgDwM

Watch this, it's funny and sooo true.

Also just to say that sadly seperate leagues/teams for some sports have sprung up in the country. There are all asian cricket and football teams

There is a local cricket team made up of specifically pakistanis in my locality. They cant move up into certain tiers as they dont have their own pitch etc, they rent grounds etc

Every year they win the league at a canter, the league isnt asian specific. So obviously good enough

Bloody hell, how many asians are actually on this site?

I was just thinking that Dark, we're a very multicultural board.

Yeah! I didn't even realise RedReason was asian too, alongside the discovery Toplad was Indian. If it didn't sound like I was trying to categorise people, I would do a thread asking who are asians on this board

I cant believe in this day and age that someones been allowed to trot out the 'genetically inferior' nonsense.

They used to say that about black players in the 70s, that they were suited to playing up front where you needed pace and power, but not so good at the back where reading the game was more important (some clown actually wrote that in a football annual I had).

Are there any white people that use this site?

I am half english half spanish