Daniel gave evidence at the royal commission. Days later, more kids were targeted

Daniel Onas was 10 years old when he started playing for AJAX, an Australian rules football club in Melbourne. The club had formed in 1957 (and its youth teams in 1972) so that Jewish players and children excluded from other clubs had somewhere to play. His earliest memories of playing for them are overwhelmingly positive. His teammates comprised friends from school and others nearby, they were coached by one another’s dads and travelled to Ballarat for footy camps. “We lost more than we won, but

we had a lot of fun,” he said. But fused with the fond memories are those of another nature somewhat common in youth sports: incidents of verbal abuse, children leaving games in tears, spats between parents and a rare melee. Onas’ memories, however, are unique among many Australian children’s. In his, the vitriol thrown his team’s way was distinctly antisemitic. “I can remember some nasty incidents when our players ended the game in tears because of things that were said,” he recalled. “There was the

accepted norm that things would happen from time to time and antisemitism was there.”

Daniel Onas, AJAX football club, antisemitism, royal commission, Melbourne, junior sport, youth teams, Jewish players, Ballarat footy camps