Indigenous and Multicultural Youth Girls wrap

A string of new faces joined seasoned players at the first Multicultural and Indigenous Youth Girls Leadership Program for 2023.

AFL NSW/ACT runs this program for talented girls aged 14-16 to accelerated their football skills and strengthen their leadership capabilities. Players leave the three-day program with tools to apply on and off the field to make them better people, players and leaders.

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Highlights

AFL NSW/ACT began combining the Indigenous and Multicultural Leadership Programs in 2022 which has given participants the chance to extend their connections through footy right across the state and territory.

Cultural highlights included a session run by Afrobeat, which uses African drums as a vehicle to build awareness of the importance of inclusion. Ngemba & Wiradjuri man, Jai Pittman, ran a session about how Indigenous culture can unite people and communities, and why everyone needs to be proud of who they are and accepting of others.

There were athlete education sessions on all aspects of footy from skills to tactics, as well as seminars on the importance of safe driving (thanks to Transport for NSW) and the dangers of drugs, alcohol and smoking.

Perhaps the most exciting moment for the participants was the involvement of AFL NSW/ACT Multicultural Ambassador, Haneen Zreika (GIANTS), and AFL NSW/ACT Indigenous Ambassador, Aliesha Newman (Sydney Swans).

A bonda fide legend of the game, Sydney Swans’ megastar, Lance Franklin, also attended the program for a couple of hours, generously chatting with the players, sharing his experiences, wisdom and (of course) a few selfies and autographs.

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The match

The Youth Leadership Program is about building great people in our footy communities and beyond, but there is also a strong talent focus, with the players attending gaining selection after being recognised by the GIANTS Academy and Sydney Swans Academy.

Saturday evening included a match between the Indigenous side and the multicultural team at Macquarie University. Team lists found here.

In spite of drizzly conditions, the match was exceptional standard, with players from both sides eager to show their best. The Indigenous team was coached by Swans’ AFLW player, Bella Smith, with Mitch Ede taking the reins for the Multicultural team.

The Multicultural side was too strong all evening, running out 37-point winners in a spirited contest where the Indigenous team rallied late.

In a touching moment, the teams joined in a guard of honour at the end of the match as the umpires left the field – all the umpires involved in the match were women.

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Multicultural 6.13.49 def Indigenous 2.0.12

Goals

Multicultural: 3 Sanchez, 2 White, Sullivan, Waechter

Indigenous: Galvin, Copper

Best

Multicultural team star, Lily Sullivan (Willoughby Wildcats), was judged best afield.

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Support from Transport for NSW

Transport for NSW is an invaluable supporter of AFL NSW/ACT’s Indigenous Youth Leadership Programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth since 2014.

In 2023, Transport for NSW will also support AFL NSW/ACT’s Multicultural Youth Leadership Programs.

Through the programs, Transport for NSW has imparted wisdom onto dozens of our young leaders about the importance of road safety and developing leadership in their community by reinforcing road safety messages to help our state move Towards Zero road fatalities by 2050.

Thank you for Transport for NSW’s ongoing support of our young and talented leaders.

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