NAIDOC Cup set for Blacktown
Blacktown will be a place of celebration on Friday when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities came together to celebrate their culture and heritage, in the lead up to NAIDOC Day.
On the last day of term two for NSW students, five schools will travel from across Sydney for the event: Sarah Redfern High, Ingleburn High, Plumpton High, Doonside High, and Chifley College.
AFL NSW/ACT has been running programs with all five schools for the past six years, and there’s set to be plenty of high quality football from youngsters aged 12-16.
Eight teams will compete, playing AFL 9s, with matches beginning a little past 10am, before a 2pm Grand Final.
The theme of this year’s NAIDOC week, which will run from July 6-13, honours all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men and women who have fought in defence of country, and the NAIDOC Cup will pay homage with an address from indigenous Navy officer Matthew Moore.
After Moore’s speech, a traditional Indigenous dance group will perform a routine, a ‘Welcome to country’ ceremony will be carried out, and there will be a boomerang painting and throwing work shop for youngsters to visit in between games.
National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) and its origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920s.
The group was formed to increase awareness of the status and treatment of Indigenous Australians, but nowadays NAIDOC is more a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
What: NAIDOC Cup
When: Friday June 27, 10am-2:30pm
Where: Blacktown International Sports Park
