Strength at grassroots
Far North could be hotbed for Indigenous netball stars of the future
INDIGENOUS representation has been put under the spotlight at netball’s elite level, but the Far North could be doing better than any other region at the grassroots level.
The Queensland Firebirds’ decision to leave Jemma Mi Mi – the only Indigenous player in the Super Netball competition – on the bench during Sunday’s Indigenous Round clash against the Vixens in Cairns left a sour taste in many fans’ mouths and sent the franchise into damage control.
While the decision not to play Mi Mi has been criticised, netball’s historic lack of Indigenous representation has also been condemned.
It has been reported four per cent of Australian netball participants identify as Indigenous people at the grassroots level, but while an exact figure wasn’t disclosed it is believed to be much higher in the Far North.
“We have a really strong Indigenous population and Indigenous community that play netball here in Cairns,” said Cairns Netball operations manager Tanya Dearns.
“It’s really exciting and some of those kids coming through are really talented.”
Throughout Australian netball’s long history, only two Indigenous players have represented the Diamonds – Marcia Ella-Duncan and Sharon Finnan-White – while no Indigenous players have worn the Diamonds dress in the last two decades.
Mi Mi is the only one of 96 Super Netball players to identify as Indigenous.
With one of the largest representations of Indigenous players in the state, Cairns’ Martyn St courts could become a hotbed for Super Netball stars in the future, as the sport’s governing body pledges to create better pathways.
The region has been a leader in providing outlets for Indigenous netballers in recent years, largely due to the work of Finnan-White, who helped set up the Cairns Netball Indigenous Program and Sharon Finnan Cup Carnival.
Other initiatives and tournaments in the region include Netball Queensland’s Diamond Spirit program and PCYC Yarrabah’s Dalari Fast 5s Netball Tournament.
With netball among the
“fastest growing” sports in the region, the number of Indigenous representatives at the local level is likely to increase.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had to put our Indigenous program on hold this year because of COVID, but we will be getting that back up and running in the new year,” Dearns said.
“It provides opportunities to play as part of Indigenous teams and squads, but there are also a lot of Indigenous players integrated through our representative teams.: