A ground-breaking education initiative driven by the Bachar Houli Foundation, in partnership with the Richmond Football Club, will provide Islamic youth with unprecedented access to careers in sport.

The Islamic College of Sport (ICS) will provide an alternative to traditional VCE studies, providing Islamic students with the opportunity to learn in a culturally safe environment, with a sporting lens applied to the curriculum.

“We’ve been working with our youth for over 10 years now and seeing the way our young men and women have developed makes us super proud,” Bachar Houli said.

During this time, it became clear to program facilitators that an opportunity existed to provide an educational pathway that catered for young people who weren’t engaging with traditional streams.

“[Through] the programs that we have currently at the foundation, we get the [students] in three or four times a year,” Houli said.

“But the college will offer so much more, bringing them in five days a week and empowering them to become better human beings, better Muslims and more importantly just giving them an opportunity at a different level when it comes to education.”

The ICS will allow students to also complete a Certificate III in Sport and Recreation.

Beyond this, the alternate education pathway, will also provide students with the opportunity to opt into high-performance programs, catering for all sports, not just Australian Rules Football.

For Director of BHF Ali Fahour, the chance to implement a world first curriculum proved too good of an opportunity to pass up.

“We’ve been able to design a curriculum, where they’ll come in and complete their VCE vocational major, but the whole curriculum has got a sport and faith lens over it,” Fahour said.

“We [have] created this from scratch.

“Whether they’re doing literacy or numeracy, work related skills, professional development, it’s all going to be related back to sports and faith, which is what motivates young people and what they are coming for.”

Replicating the same feel and vibe that participants are exposed to through BHF programs into the college is vital to Fahour, who notes the change he has seen in students who have gone through BHF programs over the past 10 years.

“We work with a lot of young people, and we understand many have struggled in the classroom or lost interest in school, or they’re struggling with their results,” he said.

“But when they’re in our environment we just see them grow and prosper.

“So that has really been our passion, knowing that these young people are struggling at school in traditional academia, but when they’re in our environment they actually fully energise and engage.

“So, we wanted to create this environment for those young people, because we know that they are quite capable.”

The next step in the process was finding a suitable location for their first campus.

“We’ve identified Coburg Football Club as a great central beginning for our school,” Houli said.

“We see with our participants that come through the program, [that] they generally come from the North-West [of Melbourne].”

Expressions of interest can be found on the Islamic College of Sport website, with more information to follow.

The Islamic College of Sport powered by the Bachar Houli Foundation, launching in 2024 with an initial intake of Year 11 boys and girls.