"Football shouldn’t be shy; it should be recognised for how powerful it can be."

As we look back on South Asian Heritage Month (18th July - 17th August), we caught up with Youth Network, and current Berks & Bucks FA Board Member, Yohan Augustine, to talk about the importance of inclusion and diversity in football across our region.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your journey in Football?

My journey in football started as a 4-year-old player who couldn’t stop kicking a ball around or a stone on the street.

I loved being outside and being active and football was some of my earliest memories.

Not much has changed except having a rough knee injury that resulted in three surgeries, and joining BBFA. I never thought I’d have a next chapter in football outside of playing, but I’m grateful that through my injury I was able to find BBFA. Since then, I’ve still got the same youthful hunger and same taste for football, and it’s a blessing that I have an alternative vessel for this passion.

Now I sit on the board at BBFA and am proud to say I’ve been involved in the Youth Network for over five years. It’s exciting to see where the next steps of the journey will take me..

How has your cultural background shaped your views and involvement in football, both as a player and in a board role?


I think as a player, culture never even crossed my mind. In a sense where ignorance was bliss, I never saw anything as colour or culture, maybe through the naïve lens of being a young person. Now I can look back at certain moments and realise that potentially there was incidents where my culture or race was used against me.

It’s only through my work on the Youth Network and BBFA Board that I realise how important these issues are and how celebrating a culture and differences is nothing more than showing appreciation for groups that may not get shouted about. I think sometimes it can come across as tokenistic and a ‘tick in the box’, but a celebration of cultures facilitates an inclusive and positive community. If that’s not a shared aim for football, then that’s not the football I want to be a part of.

Now I sit on the board and am constantly thinking how to reach populations and areas where there is less engagement and less presence, having this community approach at the forefront and realising this is where football can really shine as a community tool.

What initiatives has the Berks & Bucks FA Board undertaken to promote diversity and inclusion, particularly for South Asians?

Something I can honestly say about BBFA is that they are one of the few organisations I’ve been a part of that honestly care about their community and people.

Any decision is often concluded by asking whether it is the best thing for football and its community. This is at the heart of everything we do and I’ve felt that all 5/6 years of my tenure.

BBFA have been brilliant in focussing their efforts in Slough, an area where there was a shockingly low number of clubs compared to other large areas in the counties, and a diverse population of predominantly South Asian background. Through Callum and many other team members, I can really see the positive shift in culture and use of football as a vessel to empower young people from these areas, without tokenising them or using them for our own brand.

It’s genuine and honest work that happens in many events such as the recent Rise Up Conference and also Just Play sessions as well.

What activities or events do you think could be effective in raising awareness and celebrating South Asian contributions to football?

For me the most important thing is groundwork and ensuring that you are a presence in the community. It’s important to go in with a mindset to learn rather than to educate and take, and I think some consistency in building this relationship and following up on discussions through action is the key to building bridges in anything, let alone football.

I feel we’re doing this anyways, but potentially could come up with some creative, or non-traditional routes that can increase our exposure and engage those who are harder to reach/engage.

It’s important with inclusivity or EDI to acknowledge that this kind of work will always be an ongoing effort, as it’s hard to ever imagine a fully inclusive environment. Part of that ongoing effort is to recognise your progress along the way, and I think BBFA will continue to strategize and consult in areas with South Asians and other ethnically diverse populations to help build the community we’re aiming for.

Often utilising religious and cultural events to learn and develop ourselves, as well as embracing another culture in a respectful manner could be one way. As well as facilitating an environment where differences can coexist together with respect.

How can the football community better support and engage with diverse communities?

Football shouldn’t be shy; it should be recognised for how powerful it can be.

I’m constantly on the fence between deciding whether sport should be in politics, but I wonder if it’s ever easy to separate what people feel strongly about, especially when you can see how strongly people identify with football itself!

I think understanding where and why discrimination happens and having an approach to this that focuses on education and awareness, rather than discipline, could be a way forward, but this is easier said than done. I think being able to celebrate everyone across the board, without shining too much of a spotlight but ensuring that voices are represented would be a positive community to be a part of.

Ultimately, to really find out the answer to this question, the two way approach is needed and we need to consult less engaged populations to build relationships and understand best how we can support them.

How do you think we can create a more inclusive environment in football that celebrates and embraces cultural diversity?

A more inclusive environment generally should come with an awareness of what inclusivity is.

There’s a popular and famous quote around diversity is being invited to the party but inclusion is being invited to dance.

To me, I took this as creating a diverse environment and education around this, as well as accepting that an invitation is the best that we can do, and this is still being inclusive. It takes a lot of work to be a fully inclusive community, and I wonder if this phenomenon can even exist, but through measuring impact and utilising strategies that are based on the consultation of those it’s targeted at, that can help create a communal and inclusive community.

Also my earlier point of consulting less engaged populations in the community to understand their perspectives.

What are some of the key issues facing young people in football today, and how can they be addressed?

I think a key issue in football I come across is awareness of opportunity. 

I’m not sure if there is enough opportunity to play football, no matter who you are and what you face.

I think BBFA strive to do this greatly at a grassroots level, but recreational football makes up an overwhelming majority of all football played in England, and it would be great to have an influence and impact on these groups. Potentially this could give us more data to work with when looking at other issues in discipline, EDI and development. Another thing I’d like is for people to realise that football is about enjoyment. It’s about enjoying the wins and losses, realising this is what sports is and this is why it means so much. On every level, football is competitive, but it is incredibly collaborative as well.

I urge everyone to find what they enjoy in football and speak out or try other routes if this isn’t how you feel. It’s not just about playing, there is so much more and it’s our job to bring an awareness to those and develop relationships with our young people so that we can see the fruits of our labour when implementing all the strategies and change. I’m a firm believer that only in 25 years’ time we’ll see the true impact of our work on young people today, and I hope in 25 years they can still say football brings them joy and that they’re are in a place to tackle cultural and societal issues collaboratively.

If you'd like to find out about inclusion and diversity work being done across the region to support football, please take a look at our dedicated Inclusion pages. Alternatively, please contact our Community & Inclusion Manager via email.