Awer Mabil

Barefoot to Boots aims to improve the health, education and gender equality among refugees. Awer Mabil began playing soccer in ...

I am a reporter at The Canberra Times, and was previously a trainee. I am now a general news reporter, with a focus on health. I have covered various topics at the masthead, including courts, federal politics, breaking news, features and opinion. I previously worked in digital news. He is currently on loan to Czech team Sparta Prague. Mr Mabil has said he first started playing soccer at the Kenyan refugee camp at age five, in bare feet and using a rolled up sock.

Awer Mabil was forced to flee a war-torn African nation before spending his early childhood in a refugee camp.

Mabil paid tribute to his family in his acceptance speech, noting the sacrifice his mother made in bringing the family to Australia. In a pre-recorded acceptance speech, Mabil said he wanted to make the most of the opportunity he was given through his position as an advocate and Socceroos player. As well as the winger’s efforts on the football pitch, where he was part of Australia’s World Cup efforts in Qatar, Mabil is the founder of not-for-profit Barefoot to Boots, which aims for better health and education for refugees.

I am a reporter at The Canberra Times, and was previously a trainee. I have covered various topics at the masthead, including courts, federal politics, ...

I am a reporter at The Canberra Times, and was previously a trainee. I am now a general news reporter, with a focus on health. I have covered various topics at the masthead, including courts, federal politics, breaking news, features and opinion. I previously worked in digital news. He is currently on loan to Czech team Sparta Prague. Mr Mabil has said he first started playing soccer at the Kenyan refugee camp at age five, in bare feet and using a rolled up sock.

I would like to congratulate Awer Mabil from South Australia for being awarded the 2023 Young Australian of the Year. Awer Mabil is a worthy recipient.

He was the first Australian runner in 53 years to make an Olympic 800m final. Awer Mabil’s dedication and commitment demonstrate the best of what young Australians contribute to our communities. - The Northern Territory’s Jahdai Vigona is a proud Tiwi Islands man who encourages Indigenous people to speak up and be heard.

Popular Socceroos star Awer Mabil has been named the 2023 Young Australian of the Year, following in the footsteps of Matildas captain Sam Kerr who received ...

“To be able to be named Young Australian of the Year gives me power to continue doing what I’m doing. “But during training I was obviously distracted, thinking how big this is for my family and also for our footballing community.” “For me it was an honour just to be nominated.

Awer Mabil's charity, Barefoot To Boots, helps supply football equipment to children in refugee camps. But the Socceroo is only just getting started.

However, there is one identity he is proudest to boast: that of a refugee. We have many more ideas that we want to hopefully implement in the future to make the less fortunate more resourceful in being able to follow their dreams." "Of course, football is the foundation but, around it, we're able to go into areas and help schools, hospitals and gender rights," he says. Not only did it provide inspiration for Mabil to pursue professional football, debuting with Adelaide United in 2013, but it also laid the foundation of charity and "giving back" that has motivated his life off the field. We'll continue to carry her name." "I think [the award] is only motivation to continue that. It's something that connects people from all over the world, but mainly in Australia, with the refugees. I took some shoes there and gave them to one kid, and then it just clicked. That's how Barefoot To Boots was born." That motivated me to also become a footballer." I still have a photo of it on my old computer. "When I went there, I saw Travis Dodd and Scott Jamieson taking the clinic.

The former Adelaide United star's Barefoot to Boots charity started out donating old football equipment to the refugee camp in Kenya where he was born, ...

I always used to mention to him, ‘I’d love to go back on my holidays to the refugee camp and help the kids.’ It’s just funny, five years later, he’s the coach here and presenting this to the team. Returns for the Round of 16 in February 2023, with all matches streaming ad-free, live and on demand. That means not only refugees, and the growing African soccer community of which he has I took some shoes there, and I gave them to one kid, and then it just sort of clicked.” All my teammates congratulated me and also my coach got everyone in a circle and [said] some special words. I gave those clothes and those footballs to the kids, because I knew there, that the balls are made out of plastic. “When a baby’s premature born there, they just wrap it in clothes and hope that it survives. We have many [other] ideas that we want to hopefully implement in the future.” These kids now, instead of being wrapped in just clothes, they’re now in an incubator, a machine that will take care of them. One day soon, Mabil would like to build them an artificial pitch to play on, instead of the dirt fields he grew up on. “I asked [the club] to give me some of the training kits that I can take, and then I got some three or four footballs. At that time I was playing for his former club, St Augustines, an amateur team.