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Netball Australia aiming to rectify wrongs of the past with First Nations squad

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Camilla Roy goalkeeper and returning Black Swans representative Olivia Clarke. (Source: Tennis Australia.)

In short:

A team of 20 athletes has been selected to represent the Indigenous National Team, the Black Swans, in the 2025 Games.

The team is part of a series of initiatives aimed at helping break down barriers that prevent Indigenous people from participating in the sport and achieving their potential.

What’s next?

The Black Swans will compete as a domestic invitee in the 2025 Pacific Australia Sport Netball Series next February.

Some of Australia’s best Aboriginal talent have been selected to play for the 20-player Black Swan National Team as part of Netball Australia’s drive to increase representation in the sport and help redress a troubled past with its Indigenous people.

The league’s First Nations engagement manager and former Queensland Firebirds champion Beryl Friday said Indigenous women had a long history of playing netball but were rarely seen in the game.

And many who have reached the highest levels have left finding it a “traumatic place”.

“I remember my mom and my aunts playing, and I know my grandmother played as a kid,” a Kukunucal woman from the Kukualanji Nation told ABC Sports on Friday.

“So, we’ve always been involved in netball but it can be a little under the radar sometimes, especially at the highest level.

“So initiatives like Black Swan are just about righting some of the mistakes that have been made to us in the past and providing a safer path for the next batch of girls.”

Tennis Australia aims to right past wrongs with Aboriginal team

Beryl Flood is confident the Black Swan Project will have a positive impact on Aboriginal women’s tennis. (Getty Images: Mark Nolan)

This year, the Super Netball team has only two Aboriginal players signed to the team – Queensland Firebirds star shooter Noongar woman Donnell Wallam and Sunshine Coast Lightning Wakka Wakka woman Leesa Mi Mi.

Gabby Coffey from Wiradjuri is the Melbourne Vixens’ training partner.

At the end of the 2024 season, Wareham did not sign with the Firebirds, but instead signed with the Northern Mystics of the New Zealand Premier League.

That’s a slight improvement from 2020, when the league had just one Indigenous player, Firebirds and Wakka Wakka woman Jemma Mi Mi.

Tennis Australia aims to right past wrongs with Aboriginal team

Donnell Wallam makes his Diamond League debut in 2022. (Getty Images: Brendon Thorne)

However, that year, Jemma Mi Mi was replaced after becoming the poster girl for the Aboriginal round.

The move drew criticism from fans and the community at large and led to the sport pledging to help break down barriers that prevent Indigenous people from entering and fulfilling their potential.

Wollum is the third Indigenous woman to wear a national team uniform, following Marcia Ella-Duncan and Sharon Finnan-White.

‘Culturally safe’

Fred explained that it was important to give Indigenous players the opportunity to develop their skills in a culturally safe environment.

Tennis Australia aims to right past wrongs with Aboriginal team

The Black Swans, Tennis Australia’s Indigenous national team, will compete in 2024. (Image credit: Tennis Australia)

She said that as indigenous peoples, they have different ways of knowing, behaving and existing, and that they can, consciously or unconsciously, code-switch to fit in with the majority in a given environment.

Turning the tide of a ‘toxic’ netball culture

Photos show the two players hugging after the game

Tennis Australia aims to right past wrongs with Aboriginal team

The Premier Tennis League has been under fire this year for its poor culture and ongoing racism at the Firebirds. Now, new management and former Diamonds players are working to turn things around.

“But when we’re in a culturally safe environment, we can speak our slang and lingo and know that we’re like-minded,” Freddy said.

“Because it’s who we are as Indigenous people, especially as Indigenous women. So first of all, a culturally safe environment is about doing that, it allows us to be ourselves without being judged.”

Coming together in a non-judgemental environment means Aboriginal women can learn from each other’s culture.

“We help each other in the learning process, in the culture, in developing leadership on and off the court,” Freddie said.

“We know we will have good intentions and support each other’s growth.”

Tennis Australia aims to right past wrongs with Aboriginal team

The 2024 Tennis First Nations National Team Black Swans gather. (Image credit: Tennis Australia.)

Additionally, Wollum has been the victim of racial abuse within the sport of netball, including receiving a racist letter ahead of Super Netball’s NAIDOC Week celebrations in early July.

After the first team was formed, about 80 Aboriginal players, coaches and referees formed a community to help and support each other.

‘Part of netball’s history’

The Black Swans made their debut at the 2024 Pacific Tennis Series earlier this year and finished top of the standings, but as an invited team they were unable to compete for the silver medal.

Tennis Australia aims to right past wrongs with Aboriginal team

Olivia Clarke never thought she would have a place in tennis history. (Image credit: Tennis Australia)

Next February, they will compete as the domestic invitee team in the 2025 Pacific Australia Sport Netball Series, facing the national teams of Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Samoa and Tonga, as well as first-time participant Scottish Thistle.

Freddy was a member of the first Black Swan Aboriginal team and played an important mentoring role.

She will continue to perform with the new team, which includes 12 returning members and eight debuting members.

Olivia Clark, the Camilla Roy goalkeeper and Black Swans representative, said she was very happy and proud to be able to represent their culture on such a large scale.

Now, she wants to use her experience to help others.

“To be honest, I never thought I would be a part of netball history,” Clark said.

“It gave me the opportunity to compete and meet some other outstanding Aboriginal netball players from across the country who I would never have played with without that opportunity.”

‘From grassroots up and the top down’

Freddie said there was no common goal behind bringing in the Aboriginal team.

They want to see more Indigenous super netball and Indigenous players, but they also want better representation at all levels of the sport.

She also wants to watch the men’s competition at the First Nations Championships.

“We want to see more coaches. We want to see more managers .. from the grassroots to the top,” Freddie said.

“I know we’re starting with the girls but there’s a lot of opportunity for that path and program to grow. But for me, I’d obviously like to see more Indigenous players qualify at diamond level.”

Tennis Australia aims to right past wrongs with Aboriginal team

Donnell Wallam plays for the Queensland Firebirds during the 2024 Premier Tennis season. (AAP: Matt Turner)

Tennis Australia also held an Aboriginal tournament in September this year, aimed at improving pathways from the community into the elite system. The tournament featured under-23 teams from each state and territory.

Finnan-White also established the Aboriginal Academy of Excellence (FNAE) to support emerging tennis players, coaches and umpires through pathways such as tennis, which is not always the most welcoming place for Aboriginal people.

‘Inspire young Torres Strait Islanders and Indigenous Australians’

Axed Firebird hits out at club amid claims of a toxic culture

Photo by Remi Kamo

Tennis Australia aims to right past wrongs with Aboriginal team

Tennis Australia is investigating the workings of the Queensland Firebirds, with Remi Kamo criticising the team for a toxic culture.

The new team includes Mabuyag, the first Black Swan player of Torres Strait Islander descent, and Sebai Island woman Marieke Babia, who was identified at the inaugural Aboriginal tennis tournament at the Australian Open.

“It’s a huge responsibility, but also a huge honor,” Babia said.

“My father grew up on Mabuyag Island in the Torres Strait and he passed on the language, songs, art and cultural practices to me throughout my life – embracing and celebrating culture in our home.

“These values ​​have guided me throughout my sporting career. I hope to inspire young Torres Strait Islanders and Aboriginal Australians.”

Tennis Australia aims to right past wrongs with Aboriginal team

Giants player Beryl Friday during the 2018 Australian Netball League Grand Final.

Fried hopes these young players will have a better experience than some of her peers, who have given up on the sport because of less-than-ideal experiences.

Freddie said: “Netball can even be a traumatic place for some people.

“Before playing in the Black Swans and Pacific series last year, I hadn’t played competitive netball for at least a year and had no plans to return to the sport, but I thought it was important to come back and pass on my knowledge to the next generation.

“I know a lot of other former Aboriginal players feel the same way. So I think it’s changing our perception and it’s changing internally as well, which is good.”

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