Super Netball celebrates Aboriginal culture with inaugural Indigenous round
This weekend, the entire Super Netball family will celebrate Indigenous culture for the first time.
In the past we've seen clubs such as the Adelaide Thunderbirds and West Coast Fever wear Indigenous style dresses — but this is the first time there will be an official round with Australia's first nations designs on the outfits of all teams involved in the domestic league.
The NSW Swifts and Giants both unveiled their uniforms in Darling Harbour on Wednesday, with a strong focus on the importance this round has for Indigenous culture, netball as a sport, and broader Australian society.
The Swifts have used artwork by Kamilario/Gamilaraay artist Dennis Golding, the man behind the 2018 South Sydney Rabbitohs Indigenous jersey and last year's Wallabies Indigenous jersey.
The Giants dress, designed by 16-year-old up-and-coming Indigenous netballer Krystal Dallinger, includes links to her previous home in Dubbo, where she resides now in Newcastle, and the rivers that connect those two places.
A talent discovered by Giants defender Sam Poolman during one of her ASPIRE coaching sessions, Dallinger was present with family and school friends at the Giants' private unveiling on Tuesday with a smoke ceremony and various important guests.
Poolman said she could tell the Hunter Sports High student was a creative player the first time they met, but only realised she was creative in an art sense when Dallinger gave her a Giants hat covered in Indigenous art as a thank you for her coaching and mentor support.
"From my first dealings with Krystal I realised she is a very creative player but also the type of kid that just takes every opportunity and wanted to listen and learn, so she definitely stood out," Poolman said.
"And then hearing about her netball journey, how her single mum and her packed up and left their family in Dubbo to find more opportunity 12 months ago, that was special."
Poolman was quick to put Dallinger's name forward as a potential artist when the team first found out Super Netball would be holding an Indigenous round, and the Giants gave her free reign to paint her own story for the dress.
"Krystal cried when we told her and she actually went back to Dubbo, spoke to her family members in more depth about her background and got them to help with the inspiration and ideas that all came together," Poolman said.
"It not only reflects her netball pathway, but the influence her family has had in the journey, the importance of her community and how we all come together to share a love for netball.
"Us Giants being all about family and the community, it really represented what we're all about."
But is it enough?
Currently, Queensland Firebird Jemma Mi Mi is the only Indigenous player registered in a Super Netball team.
In the Australian Netball League (ANL) — Super Netball's feeder competition — Canberra shooter Beryl Friday is also a standalone entity.
Yet 3 per cent of registered participants with Netball Australia identified themselves as Indigenous in 2017 and as of June 30th this year, 5 per cent of NSW's total participants also identified themselves as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
There are two indigenous players in the U19s team and just one out of 55 players in the Swifts and Giants Super Netball and ANL setup — so the question is, where and why do the numbers drop off?
Earlier in the year, when the GWS Giants unveiled their 2018 Indigenous AFL jersey, both the Giants ANL and Super Netball teams were present.
Former Diamond and captain of the Giants, Kim Green, said a group of seven or so girls stayed back to have coffee after that event and it's there that Friday gave them a feel for what this round was about.
"She sat with us for about an hour and it was just an impromptu [talk], where we were asking questions about how she felt about reconciliation and what she's gone through and what her family's gone through and getting an understanding of what that means and what makes her as a person today," Green said.
"It really sparked some thought in our players. We walked away from that meeting and went straight to our management team and said we want to do this right and understand why we're wearing the dress and who we're wearing it for."
Friday, a proud Kuku Yalanji, Kaantju, Birrigubba and Kamilaroi woman, agrees that the round is a huge step in the right direction for Netball Australia.
Fond of the Giants dress in particular, she believes the way her club went about the design is a great way to include Indigenous culture.
"On a broader scale this is just representation at a national level and just a chance to prove that we're still here and important," Friday said.
"It's a sense of being proud. We're still here, we're still the oldest surviving culture in the world and we're still fighting for equal rights and equal opportunity.
"I don't know of any other girls who played ANL who are Aboriginal and to me that's not enough. If you look at football we aren't short of talent so the question is what are we doing with our pathways.
"The last woman to play netball for Australia retired 20 years ago. There's still a massive gap for what we can do for Indigenous pathways and participation rates and this is a great step but it also needs to be used as a platform for further growth in this space."
Targeted performance camps
In July last year, Netball Australia held it's very first Indigenous high performance camp.
Lead by Netball Australia's Reconciliation Action Plan, 21 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples gathered for three days under the mentor of former Australian Diamonds representatives Marcia Ella-Duncan, Sharon Finnan-White and Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander.
At the time, Netball CEO Marne Fechner said the camp was an opportunity for two-way learnings.
"To develop the Diamonds of the future, while also building our understanding of the cultural connections that gives these players such incredible strength," she said.
There are no plans for a 2018 edition — but there are already discussions being held for one in 2019.
Netball NSW did hold a specialist coaching course for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in May of this year at the Mt Druitt Netball Association.
The camps have already had an impact, with Friday crediting the July camp in prolonging her time in the sport.
"I had retired at the end of my Queensland Premier season last year — and that camp convinced me to keep playing," she said.
Netball Australia hopes this weekend's Indigenous round will help attract a whole lot more Indigenous players to the sport as part of their "increased efforts" to provide an "inclusive environment for all Australians".
The organisation also highlighted the theme of this year's NAIDOC week, 'Because of her, we can', as one that makes Netball Australia's recognition of Indigenous culture particularly timely.
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