This Friday night will be particularly special for The Hospital Research Foundation Group Premier League as the competition celebrates its second First Nations Round.
All eight clubs will wear dresses designed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, connecting culture to club through artwork.
In honour of NAIDOC Week, this is the story of the dresses, the artwork and the artists behind them.
Contax Netball Club
Designed by: Rickelle Peris
Artwork title: Connecting - My Club, My Culture.
“This piece was designed in collaboration with Contax Netball Club in wanting to depict a sense, a style and design that represents and show the club’s values, history and commitment to reconciliation. The design shows that each of the teams within the club are interconnected and that they are representing a strong, supported and long history of strong and competitive women playing netball. The design also shows that no matter how big, small, white or black, Contax is a home for those who love the sport, the culture and who are fighting for a better future for the next generations.”
Garville Netball Club
Designed by: Gabriel Stengle a Kaurna, Narungga, Ngarrindjerri and Wirangu woman.
“Mikawomma is the Kaurna name for the Open Plains that describe Woodville Garden the place between Adelaide and Port Adelaide. Mikawomma is home for Garville Netball Club. The dark design of the dress is to empower our girls, to show that on court they are warriors, and they wear their colours with pride.
The design represents the journey of our netball club. The people represent the players, coaches and the Garville community. The lines and dots that flow down the dress are our journey lines, they represent not only our journey but the continuing success and effort Garville have put in to be an Inclusive club who celebrate everyone. The corner meeting place is our waterhole it is home, it is Garville. The side grey layer of lines depicts our 70+ years of being a club that represents our layers as a club. The red, black and yellow dots represent the colours of the Aboriginal flag. The black for its people, the yellow for the sun and red for the earth. The Kangaroo tracks are our Great Greys and showcase Garville always moving forward and never backwards."
Matrics Netball Club
Designed by: Wulla Designs from Port Augusta
“The uniform represents families and friends coming together to support their community sports and unite as one. The stars represent the club for which we are widely known as in the community (The Stars). The circles on the dress represent three different players on the court.
- The middle circle represents the players on court.
- The next outer circle highlights the other players and officials on court
- The main outer circle are the people who sit and watch the family and are the families and friends all coming together.
The stars in the middle are the people who the club has lost over the years (more recently Ivy-Rose Hughes). The pathways represent people coming to and from the club. The hands are a welcoming sign into the club and the dots and circles represent the communities our players and families come from.”
Metro Jets Netball Club
Designed by: Damien Weber
“This piece of artwork represents some of the Aboriginal community guidelines and philosophies that first nations communities held in high regard as to keeping the land, the community and the culture safe. The five stars representing five points of these philosophies living in the Australia environment. For thousands of years the first nations people passed on stories from generation to generation. This is so that each generation would gain knowledge on ways to treat and survive in Australia’s harsh conditions, conservation of species and the natural world. Everything is treated with respect and so everything keeps its balance and give back to communities. In order to minimize conflict in human relations.
The stories passed on are like the knowledge and skills which are passed on from Senior players and teams right down to net set go.
Respect and minimizing conflict is transferred from the Jets committee to all the players/umpires/ coaches and parents. Netball is a team sport and on court this is always a level of respect held for the opposing teams and players.
The Kaurna Shield (Murlapaka) was traditionally used in ceremony and as protection during confrontation and has been used in this artwork as a reminder that we are on Kaurna land.”
Newton Jaguars Netball Club
Designed by: Jordan Wanganeen and Chelsea Holloway
“The lines to the meeting places shows us all on our different netball journeys. The circles at the bottom represents everyone at the club - its coaches, officials, players, family and friends. The hands represent the members of our squad. Overall, this dress design is about the playing group as individuals going through their own netball journey and all coming together as one at the Newton Jaguars Netball Club.”
Oakdale Netball Club
Designed by: Kylah Adams
“This dress tells the story of Kylah and the game of netball. The serpent represents Adnyamathanha Country and the community coming together. The feet represent the journey to and from the game. The blue symbolises people coming together to watch and enjoy the game and the white represents the movement of how the game is played. Kylah would like to acknowledge Sam Gollan from Meiwi Aboriginal Art for mentoring Kylah which enabled her to create such a beautiful and meaningful design for the Club.”
South Adelaide Netball Club
Designed by: Elizabeth Close in conjunction with Courtney Summers and Jordan Adams
“We worked collaboratively to identify core values that we wanted embedded within the artwork. These core values speak to the broader values as a club. This gave us an opportunity to really speak to the notion of ‘coming together’ and creating a new family and community within the club. These are values that are central to Indigenous ways of knowing and being - to create a united community with a shared journey and common goal.”
Tango Netball Club
Designed by: Chaani Bell & Sienna
“The story is about people from different communities or backgrounds coming together from different communities/places. The coolamons are used as a way of representing all the different things that everyone has to offer. The campfires symbolise common grounds as a place to share stories and come together no matter where they are from. Sharing stories is important as they let others know that if they are going through a similar experience that they are not alone, and when you come together, you can achieve anything.”
