Rawah Arja’s The F Team

Rawah Arja’s The F Team is set at Punchbowl Boys High School. Tariq and his friends in year ten have heard their entire lives that there is something wrong with the school. The media paints them as a training ground for terrorists and now the department is threatening to shut them down and disperse the students to other schools. But Tariq knows that this is his community and despite their attitude, the boys don’t want to lose their school. But what are they willing to do? When a tough new principle offers the group a chance they are sceptical. They must join students from Cronulla to form a football team. If they can prove not only that they can win but that they can get along there is hope to resurrect the school’s image. Rawah Arja is a teacher and mentor who has worked with teenage boys. Growing up in the Canterbury area she saw how media depictions of the area wore away at students' self image and their belief that they can be more than the stereotypes they are depicted. The F Team is a nuanced portrait of the area and features a stunning ensemble cast. Somehow Rawah has crafted deep, affecting portraits of more than a dozen characters and given them satisfying arcs. This gives the story terrific power because while we are concerned for Tariq, Huss, Ibby and PJ it is their relationships and the way these build up the community that give their story meaning. The story explores the impact of prejudice on these young men’s lives but it does not give them a free pass. At sixteen years old, these are young men whose childhood has been shrouded by media depictions of young muslim men in the wake of the Cronulla riots. Tariq and his friends are severely limited in their abilities to express themselves because they never know when their actions might be given up as just another example of the worst they can be. Through the football competition we are exposed to the challenges of being a man in a world that expects a certain performance of masculinity. This is juxtaposed with an interest in Slam poetry and the students becoming involved in Bankstown poetry Slam. In both arenas the message is simple and powerful; your words matter so choose them carefully and do not throw them around like weapons because you never know who they will hurt. In particular the book confronts the problematic attitudes that grow from young men believing that they have a free pass to treat women however they please. Within the world of Slam poetry Tariq must learn that expressing himself is a strength but that expression extends to listening and respecting everyone. This book is pure Sydney and it is part of a growing body of work that includes Michael Mohammed Ahmad, Felicity Castagna & Randa Abdul Fattah showing us the fullness of the city.