To many Western Australians, Bali is easily the number one choice for a holiday. It's closer than Sydney. It's cheaper than Rottnest. It has pretty much everything that you could want from a cheap overseas vacation.
The truth is, though, most tourists don't even see Bali. Of course, they see the resorts and the tourist areas of Kuta, Seminyak and Legian. Some might even venture to Ubud or Denpasar. But none of these places capture the daily life of the locals or reflect the modern day culture of the island.
I should make clear that I don't have a problem with the above situation. Indeed, in my own three visits to Bali I've only managed to trek beyond the tourist area once- and that was to the northern Lovina beach which is really just a lesser known tourist area. Holidays in Bali are not so much about experiencing a foreign culture and widening your view of the world as they are about getting a tan, drinking bintang and buying some cheap fake football shirts.
If you're reading this article, then like me you probably would find yourself exploring one aspect of any country you visit - the football culture. The sad truth is, even though I don't have any plans to visit the UK I know that when I do I will be taking in a Premier League match, a Leeds United match (hopefully I can cross off both at once there), a match at Ibrox and at least a couple of matches from the English lower leagues. That's already a long, exhausting and expensive holiday! And while I'm in Europe I'll probably want to do a tour of the Nou Camp, stop off in Milan for a match and experience the crowds in Germany as well!
Fortunately, it wasn't quite so exhausting or expensive getting a glimpse of the football culture in Bali. The main reason, of course, is because the vast majority of Balinese are interested only in one football league- the English Premier League. And most of those who don't support Manchester United and co support Barcelona, Real Madrid or Juventus instead. Even more so than in Australia, European football is king.
But that's not to say there is no-one playing football in Bali. I managed to watch for an hour some teenagers at the beach playing a football match littered with attempted bicycle kicks, Zidane-like pirouettes and goalkeeping that would make Frank Juric blush. A glimpse of what might've been a school team training on field with knee-high grass revealed the same exuberant style.
The football might not have been disciplined, but the fact is that it was fun to watch! So clear was it that all the kids playing the game there weren't worried about being fit enough or strong enough to make a team. They weren't worried about being tough because they wanted to counter the image of the sport in comparison to AFL or rugby. They just wanted to emulate the star players of the world - the ones that fans enjoy watching. In a sense the culture struck me as not dissimilar to what I might've expected in Latin America or Eastern Europe.
The question is, then, with countries like Indonesia to our north, where kids are growing up watching European football and trying to emulate the most exciting stars of world football and going on to become semi-professional or professional footballers in the leagues of those countries, why aren't we bringing them into the A-League?
I'm certainly not the first keyboard warrior to ask the question, and I suspect I won't be the last. But the argument seems overwhelming. South East Asia is an untapped region for footballing talent and Australia is ideally positioned to take advantage.
Perth Glory especially must see the value in establishing links with the region. It would seem to me no more of a gamble to take on a young up-and-coming player from Indonesia or Thailand or Vietnam than a 30-something journeyman from the lower leagues of Europe. Indeed, with the former you might even end up with someone capable of exceeding all expectations. 30 years ago European clubs scouting for young talent in Africa came across unlikely stars like George Weah, Roger Milla and Abedi Pele. Who is to say the Indonesian Super League isn't hiding a player every bit as talented?
Of course, given a choice between an unknown Asian import and Robbie Fowler, I would want Perth to steal the former superstar from under Sydney's noses. But with Asia's shift to the 4+1 foreigner rule, Asia on our doorstep and no-one else in world football really taking a close look at some of these countries - why can't Perth try to find their next star on the football fields of Bali?
