The Huddle is pleased to announce prominent community leader, Yasseen Musa, has been named the 2020 AFL Community Ambassador for the month for July.
Arriving in Melbourne over 25 years ago, the father of six was quick to recognise the need to bring hope and a sense of belonging to migrants.
Working closely with The Huddle, the North Melbourne Football Club’s community arm, Musa says that sport had played a key role in helping young people learn new skills, meet new people, and provide a new home.
“When new families arrive in Melbourne, we need to give them hope and we need to give them a place where they can feel safe which is what our community does,” Musa said.
“It can be scary moving to a new country and so North Melbourne and The Huddle have helped us welcome new people into the community and made them feel as though they belong.
“Working with The Huddle, we have been able to take our young people to the MCG and Marvel Stadium where some of them have been able to play in the half-time Auskick. This has been a big highlight for them, it gives them hope that one day they can play AFL.”
Most recently Musa played a pivotal role in aiding more than 3,000 residents of Melbourne’s public housing towers, who found themselves suddenly in lockdown due to COVID-19.
Delivering culturally sensitive food and medicine and aiding nurses, police and government bodies in communicating with local residence, Musa worked tirelessly to ensure each and every community member was receiving the right care.
“We understood why the government enforced the lockdown but you have to invite community leaders to be part of it so we can provide the correct messaging to residence.”
In what has been a tiring and stressful time for the Melbourne community, Musa has worked hard to continue to bring smiles to the faces of those in need and ensure that each member of the community feels as though they belong.
Musa’s nomination will see him go in the running to be the National Community Ambassador of the Year.
The Huddle would like to extend its congratulations to Musa for the award and acknowledge his selfless work in empowering all young people to continue to learn, grow and belong.
