Dennis Armfield’s grandfather, his Opa, was just 20 years old when he “chased a dream” all the way from Amsterdam to Australia.
As we celebrate the AFL’s Multicultural round, Armfield explains his Opa traded in bicycles, windmills, clogs and cheese to move to Australia and further his career as a painter.
“My mum and her four sisters were born in Australia but her parents, my Oma and Opa, were both born and raised in Amsterdam,” he said.
On 12 December 1949 his Opa left Amsterdam as a self-paying migrant on the SS Volendam and arrived in Melbourne on 22 January 1950. He stayed in Melbourne for three days before moving to Canberra to take up an opportunity as a painter.
“They had been affected by the war so Opa thought he and Oma better get out of there. He left and chased a dream over in Australia and it worked out for the family,” Armfield said.
“It was a little different back then; he came in a big ship and it took a lot longer – it wasn’t just a short plane flight.
“Opa came out by himself, got settled, and then Oma came out to be with him.”
Armfield says it was difficult for his Opa to leave the family on the other side of the world. It wasn’t until four months later, in April of 1950, that Armfield’s Oma joined her husband.
“They said it was a pretty scary move at such a young age – saying goodbye to family was really difficult.”
In 1959, nine years after arriving in Australia, the creative pair who worked a painter and a dressmaker, became Australian citizens.
Growing up Armfield says he picked up a few Dutch words including ‘Ik hou van jou’ which means ‘I love you’ and ‘verdomd jij’ which means ‘God dam you’.
“They’re the two words I learnt because they’re the two that are probably said the most – I love you and God dam you,” he laughed.
A big part of the Dutch culture is their cuisine and the roving half-forward says he grew up on cheese and his Oma’s special beef stew.
“Cheese is a big one – my family is big on cheese. I remember plates with all different kinds on them when we visited Oma and Opa.
“And there’s a beef stew my Oma cooks (Hachee) every Christmas.
“We have a big family of 80 now on my mum’s side so it’s first in best dressed with Oma’s famous hachee – it’s one of the best.”
Another Dutch Christmas tradition involves wooden clogs.
“Clogs, we all had clogs – that was our first Christmas present I think. I’m not too sure where they are now,” he joked.
The 28-year-old hasn’t been to Amsterdam yet, but is planning a trip with his fiancé at the end of the year.
Dennis Armfield with him Oma and Opa, mum and fiance Abbey.
“I’ve never been over there, but I really want to meet that side of my family.
“Obviously a lot of my relatives in the Netherlands wouldn’t even know who I am, but through my Opa I’m learning more about them.
“Now that I’m older and I understand it a bit more I would interested in learning a bit more so I can be in touch with that side of my heritage.”
Armfield says Multicultural Round, which kicks off this weekend, is not only important to help celebrate our diverse heritage, but it’s also a wonderful opportunity to help grow our game.
“The AFL’s Multicultural Round is important because it gives us a chance to acknowledge all the cultures we have here – that’s very important because we’re a multicultural country.
“It’s also a good opportunity for the AFL to grow the game as well – it illustrates that anyone can play our game.”
Each AFL team is embracing Multicultural Round in different ways: from Chinese dragons to citizenship ceremonies and Bollywood dancers – a sea of cultural colour will fill stadiums across the country this weekend.
Armfield has some ideas of his own on how he would like to see the round celebrated: from flags on guernseys to small games of nine on nine with each team being represented by a different county.
“I really like the initiative Port have come up with putting flags on their guernseys – I think that was a pretty cool idea,” he said.
“I would be really excited to play in Multicultural Round and have a Dutch flag on my jumper because no one would probably know half my family is from the Netherlands.
“It would be interesting to see how many players have diverse backgrounds – all displayed on our guernseys.
“It would also be good to have a little nine on nine competition – where you’ve got nine Dutch blokes v nine Chinese blokes or nine Englishmen v nine Indians. I think that would be a lot of fun.”
Carlton and Collingwood will battle it out on Saturday afternoon at the MCG in the showcase game of the AFL’s Multicultural Round.
