Western Australian netball Indigenous tour
Twelve of the best young Indigenous netball talents Western Australia has to offer and three coaches travelled to Brisbane in July (13th–17th) to hone their skills at a five-day State Indigenous Netball Development Camp.
27 August 2009
The team of Under 17s girls were chosen after their stellar performances at the 2008 NAIDOC Week Netball Carnival by Netball WA in conjunction with the Department of Sport and Recreation’s (DSR’s) Indigenous Sports Program.
The Brisbane tour was coordinated by Netball Queensland in conjunction with Netball WA following the disappointing cancellation of the Arafura Games, which were to be held in Darwin in May.
“As a coach it was great to see the girls netball skills develop and also to see potential leaders step up to the plate. As a Noongar woman it was wonderful to see the girls develop into strong young women,” said coach Kerry Stack.
“This was also a comment made by one of the girls at the end of the camp. Many friendships were made and barriers were broken down through playing netball.
“I think this camp should be an annual event and previous participants should be used as role models for future development.”
The team’s departure for the Brisbane tour came on the back of a Grand Final win at the 2009 NAIDOC carnival, where they won the B Grade Open Division.
The WA State Indigenous Development Squad had been preparing for the Arafura Games since November 2008, and when the competition was cancelled, was keen to ensure the athletes still had an opportunity for their hard work to come to fruition.
This year’s NAIDOC carnival was the biggest on record, which DSR Indigenous Sports Development Officer Nick Abraham puts down to an increasing recognition of the pathway opportunities provided by the carnival to Aboriginal youth and women in the sport of netball.
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