United Multicultural Stories: Shooters Shoot

At Melbourne United, our purpose is to use the power of basketball to inspire, entertain, and enrich people’s lives.

This is a purpose shared by Sagalee Omer, who across the past three years, has been working to make a difference within his community.

In 2021, with COVID lockdowns ending and life starting to return to some sort of normalcy, Sagalee wanted to do something special for his 23rd birthday.

An avid basketball player and the son of a mental health nurse, he came up with the idea of bringing people together for an event that could raise money to help young people during what was a difficult period for many mentally and emotionally.

This event, a basketball tournament, ultimately raised over $16,000, which went towards school programs teaching young people how to journal, and helped create Shooters Shoot. In the years following, Sagalee and Shooters Shoot have raised another upwards of $66,000, which has helped them work with over 1,000 students and build 150 bikes to be distributed within the community.

Looking at how the events and fundraising efforts have grown, Sagalee said he is proud to have created something that can make a tangible difference.

“I wanted to find an excuse to bring people together and have intention behind it, so I was turning 23 and I thought it'd be creative to hold a basketball tournament,” he said.

“My mum is a mental health nurse, so I knew the positive impact that fundraising for that sector can do.

“Over the years so many people have gotten involved and helped us raise money that is making a real difference, whether it be through our school journaling programs, free therapy sessions we’re facilitating, or the bikes we’re building.”

Ahead of our Multicultural Game this Sunday against the South East Melbourne Phoenix, Sagalee touched on the strength of sport to celebrate diversity and bring people together.

“Sport has a language of its own, you don’t even have to know a word of a language to understand sport,” he explained.

“We want to continue using that power to bring people together, it’s such a strong tool to raise awareness of things that can make a difference within our community.”

Come celebrate the diversity of Melbourne this Sunday at John Cain Arena. 

Tickets to The Multicultural Game remain available here, while The Multicultural Festival is free for all.

Fans can also tune in live at home on 10 BOLD or ESPN via Kayo.