BEFORE the semi-finals of the inaugural Bachar Houli Cup - a round-robin football tournament for Melbourne's eight Islamic schools - the students kicked off their footy boots and gathered shoulder to shoulder in three lines, facing Mecca.
At the end of the front row, 15-year-old Hussain Zarghoon had the honour of performing the "call to prayer".
In the Islamic prayer ritual, someone calls his fellow worshippers to pray, before a senior member of the community leads that community in prayer.
Zarghoon, wearing a No.15 guernsey in blues and gold stripes, had asked Houli whether he could be the "iqhama", which is the term for one who calls to prayer.
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A fresh-faced friend from Zarghoon's school, Minaret College in Springvale, said it was a sign of Zarghoon's confidence and his standing among his peers that he'd asked to perform the call to prayer.
"He's got a better beard than me," the friend said.
Houli, the Richmond half-back who in 2007 became the first practising Muslim to play in the AFL, stood alone at the front of the group. It was his job to lead the prayers, which is an honour reserved for community leaders.
Before the prayers began, a silence fell over the group not unlike the hush that precedes the first bounce of a football match, if more reverent.
Houli stood erect, closed his eyes and crossed his arms to rest each palm on the opposing forearm.
It was a potent image to see him leading the schoolboys through the standing and kneeling rituals of Islamic worship on a suburban football ground, in this case the J.J. Holland Reserve in Kensington.
On the eve of the AFL's Multicultural Round, it was an indication of the broadening reach of the game. It is a broadening that is necessary.
The AFL this week has been pushing the line that 43 per cent of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was born overseas. The code must appeal to a broader demographic if it's to remain the country's premier football code.
Minaret College student Zaffar Bajawray estimated that 60 per cent of sports fans at his school follow soccer as their first sport, 30 per cent follow football and 10 per cent follow cricket.
"But the footy followers are fanatics," he said.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick umpired Minaret College in its semi-final.
He did so to help Houli with his initiative to set up the Islamic Cup. He also did so as penance after abusing an emergency umpire during the Tigers' match against Essendon in round eight.
"I was a goose," Hardwick said.
Hardwick umpired while walking around on the artificial turf on which nine-a-side matches are played. He blew his whistle at all sorts of unusual junctures while adding comments on the game.
"Great mark," he said after a Minaret player had hauled in a grab in the goalsquare.
Between games, straggles of teenagers performed a ritual that takes place before and after games on every ground around Australia: they tried to kick goals from the boundary, mostly using the banana.
"Hey, Ahmed," one teenager said. "Kick it here."
