TWO TEENAGERS, one an Indian-origin Aussie kid, the other a Trinidadian prince, a modest motel in Bendigo, and the promise of a cricket bat. On the face of it, this must sound like the premise for a rather quirky yet entertaining movie still to be made. It is instead the most surreal experience of Ameet Bains' life. And one that he probably enjoys reminiscing over more fondly than any other in his extraordinary life.
So much so that the Western Bulldogs CEO insists on cutting our first interview short, simply because he wants enough time to do justice to his favourite anecdote. The one where he befriended a 19-year-old Brian Lara in the summer of 1992-93 and ended up with a prized possession, an autographed bat from the West Indian legend at the end of his coming-of-age first tour to Australia.
It's also a story that interestingly weaves together many aspects of what makes Bains one of the most fascinating characters in the footy world. His unbridled passion for sport, the joys of growing up in a country town in the 1990s, and an unrivalled drive in fulfilling his goals, however improbable they might seem at the start.
Bains sounds every bit like an excitable 15-year-old now living out his dream as he recalls the two chance encounters he had with Lara. The first came when he and his mother would go and meet visiting international cricketers at the local motel in Bendigo simply by knocking on each door and interacting with whoever opened the door.
"The other charm of growing up in Bendigo from a cricket perspective was for a very long period of time, the touring Test team would play Victoria in a four-day game at the QEO (Queen Elizabeth Oval). So, we've got photos from early childhood with Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Viv Richards, Richie Richardson. And Viv was my hero. I grew up loving him and then we had an indoor cricket team in primary school that I helped name Master Blasters (after Viv)," says Bains.
What happened with a young Lara, though, surpassed all of that, and in rather unexpected fashion. It started with Bains and his mother, Manjit, spending around 20 minutes chatting with the batter from Trinidad in his motel room. A conversation which ended with Lara realising the local kid's keen interest in his sport and a guarantee that he'd sell a cricket bat to him upon his return to Melbourne later in the summer.
"He must have shared information about the hotels they were staying in across the country. So we kept in touch through me calling his various hotel rooms and chatting about his cricket and how he was enjoying his Australian tour. I remember speaking to him the day after he'd made his famous 277 in Sydney too."
Eventually, the two would meet again outside the visitors' dressing-room at the MCG on January 18, 1993, after Lara had guided the West Indies home to a tense ODI win against Australia.
"In reality, I don't think he ever did anything to organise the bat. So, he literally dropped his kit bag, unzipped it, pulled out the bat that was sitting on top, and gave it to me. I was in disbelief. I think people who were around were in disbelief. The friend I was with, Dave, pushed me to get it autographed," he says with pride.
And 33 years later, the Gray-Nicholls Perimeter still has its pride of place in Bains' office at Misson Whitten Oval, sitting inside a special case. Alongside the multitude of accolades that the 48-year-old has accumulated in his highly illustrious professional career, which he kicked off as lawyer before entering the footy world. For 16 years, Brian Lara dominated Test cricket, producing some of the most remarkable innings in history. Bains' AFL innings is currently in its 16th year and it's no less remarkable.
A man who looked at the "you can't be what you can't see" narrative not as an obstacle, but an inspiration to pioneer an unprecedented journey that would help him conquer uncharted territories. A proud Sikh man who gave up his patka in his youth to pursue his footy dreams, to now wearing the hat of being one of the most influential figures in modern-day AFL.
There's a quiet confidence about Bains, a measure of self-assuredness that blends in seamlessly with an inherent sense of humility. Like someone who acknowledges the position he's in along with its uniqueness but does so with great awareness of what it's taken him to get here.
"I'm very grateful that I ended up where I did," he says when asked about whether he has to pinch himself about being associated so closely with a sport he's loved all his life.
What also stands out the deeper you get into understanding the ride that Ameet Bains has been on since his early days in Bendigo is this coming together of two very strong cultures, the one he was born into and the other that he grew up in, with footy being the bridge between the two.
In many ways, the footy love was inherited from his father Harcharn, who moved to Geelong in 1971, and began supporting Hawthorn because of his host family's connections with the club. There was always some sport on in the Bains household and a young Ameet recalls watching FA Cup finals while sat on his dad's lap and the overwhelming feeling of joy around the house when India won the 1983 cricket World Cup.
But it was on their multiple father-son trips every year to Melbourne to watch VFL matches that he believes his love for footy was enhanced even further. And though there were times when Ameet and his father did pique some curiosity with their presence, he feels like they never felt like the odd ones out among the other supporters because of the way they consumed their footy.
"Because we only went maybe two or three times a year, we would do it properly. We'd typically get there in the third quarter of the under-19s, watch half of that match, watch the full reserves match, and then watch the seniors match. Only the hardiest of supporters were there early to watch the other games," he said.
"I still remember one of the police officers who would patrol the boundary saying, 'save your lungs, young fella, it's a long day' when I got a bit too excited towards the finish of an under-19s match as an eight-year-old."
Bains enjoys getting nostalgic about some of his favourite memories of watching the VFL. Like the seminal moment when he saw Leigh Matthews running into the point post and snapping it at Windy Hill in 1982 or watching Peter Knights kick nine goals against his beloved Carlton, to which he switched allegiances in primary school, at Princes Park in 1985.
"I also have vivid memories of the drive home back to Bendigo, stopping halfway at towns like Kyneton or Woodend and getting fish and chips," he said.
If these early experiences were what shaped the "Australian" side of Bains, there was a strong Indian side, too, which was being developed at home courtesy of the strong connections his parents still held to their Indian roots, whether it meant visiting the local Gurdwara or celebrating Diwali and Holi or regular visits back to India. Those were different times in terms of Indian migration to Australia, where there was still some novelty around South Asians living here, especially in country towns.
"We were one of only eight or so Indian families in Bendigo (there are nearly 1500 currently in the city). We were the only ones living in our court. Mum's a great cook, and the smell of Indian food being prepared was common and a lot of our neighbours took a real shine to it."
There are lovely touches of both his Indian and Australian upbringing. For all of his father's encouragement, his mother remained largely wary of her son playing footy, like so many quintessential Indian mums even today.
"She would come along and watch periodically. She was scared about me getting hurt. And whilst I can't remember it, both referenced dad having to hush mum when she screamed or admonished someone who might have tackled me to the ground. I think dad got frustrated with mum watching," he says with a chuckle. Bains is very proud of the fact that Manjit can be spotted throughout the winter these days sporting either a Bulldogs beanie or a Bulldogs scarf.
He recalls having the "best of both worlds" but still at some level feeling like he didn't belong entirely to either culture.
"I think there were moments where you felt, you know, because of some of the cultural aspects, that you weren't fully Australian. But then when you go to India to visit family, you're not fully Indian either because of the Australian accent and Australian way of life," he said.
The former he overcame by being very good at footy, even representing Bendigo at a primary school level, and he believes that allowed him to not only fit in but also gain a lot of respect. His playing career continued into the amateurs, where he continued playing in the VAFA after having represented Melbourne Grammar in school footy.
"I think I certainly peaked at school-boy level. I made the school first XVIII in year 10. And in my last year at school, we won the APS football premiership, which was a great thrill given the school hadn't won it in over a decade," he said.
It was while working for Toyota Australia that Bains saw an opportunity to work in sport, having felt the lure to replace the feeling of playing it throughout his early working life. And he can recall there being both excitement and trepidation as he first joined St Kilda in early 2011. But he insists it had nothing to do with the cultural aspect of him being one of a kind in terms of his ethnic background.
"The bigger part was coming from a corporate role and corporate organisation into a football club and now knowing how I'll be perceived," he said.
"Ross Lyon was the senior coach. That was his final year and it was my first year, and he's obviously got a strong reputation in some quarters, but he was great in welcoming me and making me feel like I belonged.
"The team I was responsible for were terrific, including Tony Elshaug, who was the head of recruiting at the time, which reported into my function. He's a few years my senior and was a VFL premiership player but was incredibly gracious with me as his boss. My leadership mantra from the beginning from something I learned was 'people don't necessarily remember what you say to them, but they remember how you made them feel'."
And he stuck with it as he transitioned into his current role with Western Bulldogs in 2017.
While Bains is adamant about never having really been made to feel like an outsider in Bendigo, he's had his moments of being targeted for racial profiling during his time in footy.
There was the time an opposition player he had tackled to the ground in a VAFA match abused him on the grounds of his skin colour and got away with it at the tribunal.
"The postscript to that story is I ran into the guy at a pub, possibly three years later. He made a beeline, came up and apologised for what he'd said. So that gave you a bit more hope in humanity at that point," Bains recalled.
He also admits to having copped racial social media hate during his time at St Kilda but is grateful for the support that the club always provided.
There was one incident that stands out to him when former AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan had reached out to him to show his support. And while Bains realised that it was well-intentioned, he does admit having felt a curiosity for being put into a box of sorts.
"It was when the industry was doing a bit of soul-searching around social media racial hate and Gill was checking in on some of our leaders. Gill referenced not calling me earlier as he hadn't thought of me in that way because I grew up here and because of what I'd achieved at school and in my career. I definitely appreciated him making the call, but it was an interesting characterisation.
"Reflecting on it, it stands out given I spent a lot of my life growing up wanting to fit in and not be different, but now am resolute on celebrating my heritage and cultural background," he said.
The only way Bains feels there'll be a better understanding of such matters is when there are more multicultural leaders in place and when he's no longer the exception to the rule.
"When sometimes you get applauded for being the first in the community to do something, you get a little sugar hit of achievement. But for me, that quickly dissipates when progress does not occur. You can do the numbers, but you look at across the 18, soon to be 19 clubs, all of the AFL executives, all of the club directors, the AFL Commission, and there's plenty of work to do in the South Asian community for our game to reflect the changing population," he said.
It's the reason why Bains wants to create opportunities for those like him to not only come into footy through playing the sport but also at an administrative level.
"One of my reflections is how I can role-model a professional pathway in sports administration, so that it's actually seen by South Asian parents as a rewarding and suitable career option for their children," he said.
And what about increasing the Bulldogs' presence in the highly multicultural western Melbourne region, and especially in terms of more South Asian kids kicking the footy around? There are multiple plans afoot, according to the man in charge.
He takes pride in the fact that currently close to six per cent of the Bulldogs' Next Generation Academy squads across age-groups are of Indian origin but feels like there's still a lag when it comes to overall participation from the Indian community. He cites the role that Buku Khamis has played in increasing the African representation in the club at various levels as being a pertinent example as to what could be achieved going forward.
"First and foremost, Buku is a beautiful human that came to Australia as a South Sudanese refugee when he was around six. He later entered one of our Western Bulldogs Community Foundation's CALDPlay programs, which was all around helping migrants settle in Australia by using the power of sport and football as the glue for kids in the region," he said.
"He subsequently progressed and took up football with St Albans and then was talented enough to be in the Western Jets, our NGA, and as he progressed through the talent pathways, he played for Vic Metro, ended up being taken by the club as an NGA selection and then in the last couple of years has become a mainstay in our team."
Bains is very proud of the 'Sons of the West' and 'Daughters of the West' health programs that are run across the west of Melbourne and western Victoria, including in more recent times being run in Indian languages of Hindi, Gujarati and Punjabi in the city of Wyndham.
"I was at the club gym here the other day and spotted an under-14 kid who is part of our NGA squad wearing a patka," he says with pride.
Bains is aware that a one-size-fits-all approach that has been used historically is not sustainable and recently with his team conducted focus reviews with South Asian origin Bulldogs fans, which he's confident will yield ways and means to grow their numbers in a meaningful fashion.
I ask Bains if he can differentiate the Indian from the Australian that resides in him.
"The love of going to the pub and catching up with friends who I haven't seen in a while and watching some footy over a beer and a parma, that's the Australian side to me. And then there are things like celebrating Diwali and Holi and going to the Gurdwara that are very Indian, and which I enjoy equally," he said.
Bains takes a lot of pride in how the next generation in his household are embracing their dual cultures in similar fashion, courtesy of his wife Catherine, who he got married to in Amritsar, a historical city in Punjab. While he gushes over how well she's adjusted to the Indian side of his being, he reveals how his mother still cooks his kids' favourite Indian dishes once a week to continue that rich, flavoursome family tradition. And seeing his kids grow up with the same level of pride in their mixed heritage is what makes Bains the happiest – along with the day his high-flying Bulldogs win another flag.
The genuine love for watching footy still remains as strong as ever for Bains, as does his love for grabbing every chance to catch some international cricket during his travels. Whether it is when he watched England and South Africa play Test cricket in Cape Town a few years ago or the special time he got to watch India and Australia fight it out in a famous Test in Bengaluru. And since we started with a Brian Lara story, it's only fitting that we finish with one that involves another cricketing legend in Steve Waugh.
"I sat and watched the entire first day's play in Bengaluru with Steve Waugh. Nathan Lyon came on to bowl and bowled an impressive over. I think I understand cricket, but Steve Waugh made a comment that he thought Lyon was 'on' today. I'm thinking 'Oh, it was a good over', but I didn't see exactly what he meant. And that was the day when Lyon took eight wickets. Talk about 'pinch yourself' moments," he said.