In the lead up to next week’s Origin Energy Premier League Indigenous Round, UTS Randwick Sparks have shared this article. This article demonstrates the contributions the Sparks, UTS Sport and Randwick Netball Association are making to support reconciliation with Indigenous communities.
UTS Randwick Sparks, UTS Sport and Randwick Netball Association acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. At UTS Randwick Sparks we strive to take action to support our Indigenous sisters.
We are proud advocates and allies for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples #MoreThanAWord.
In 2020, we stood by Queensland Firebirds Indigenous player Jemma Mi Mi, the spokesperson for Indigenous athletes and the Super Netball League, who did not take the court during the Suncorp Super Netball Indigenous Round.
This kick started the conversation in the Sparks camp about how the sport we love has more work to do to become an inclusive space.
At Sparks, we are lucky to share the court with strong Indigenous women: Courtney Jones, Daisy Kennedy Holtz, Mia Middleton, Eliza Woollett and coach Ali Tucker-Munro. In 2020, Courtney and Ali shared their experiences on The Netty Life Podcast, which you can listen to here. We acknowledge the Indigenous Diamonds that came through Randwick pathways, Marcia Ella-Duncan OAM and Sharon Finnan-White OAM, who call Randwick Netball Association home.
With such rich history and strong role models within the UTS Randwick Sparks environment our players, coaches and support staff recognised the importance of using our platform to raise awareness within the NSW netball community to recognise the challenges still faced by Indigenous athletes.
Former Spark and Queensland Firebird, Beryl Friday is an incredible role model, educating our community, sharing ideas about where change needs to be made and advocating for us to take action and be an ally for our Indigenous sisters. Listen to Beryl’s powerful story which shared with Sue Gaudion here. In 2020, Beryl created artwork which, represents our history and her journey with Sparks. Our players proudly wear Beryl’s story as they train and warm up each week.
In 2021, Randwick junior representative Charlotte Ryan, designed an artwork that symbolises Randwick Netball, Sparks and the Black Diamonds that have come before her. This piece is part of our regular playing dress and an acknowledgement of the contribution Indigenous athletes and coaches have made to the UTS Randwick Sparks franchise.
At the 2021 Origin Energy Premier League Indigenous Round, Randwick Netball and UTS Randwick Sparks will launch an Indigenous NetSetGO program and we will be joined by ten young athletes on match night. This program aims to encourage young Indigenous athletes to play netball and supports Indigenous coaches and umpires to complete their accreditation.
We recognise the enormous contribution our Indigenous sisters have made to our franchise and sport and seek to listen to the stories, learn and create an inclusive environment, where all our athletes, coaches and umpires can thrive.
