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Indigenous School Sports Australia netball team strong on education by Jo Kelly 28 May 2014
T
he Indigenous School Sports Australia (ISSA) netball team has just returned from the International Schoolgirls Challenge recently held in Adelaide. The tournament officially commenced on Monday 19 – Friday 23 May 2014 at the Etsa Stadium, home of the Adelaide Thunderbirds. Next year the Trans Tasman Tournament will be held in New Zealand. The challenge hosted in Australia every two years consistes of School Sports Australia, New Zealand Secondary Schools, Aotearoa Maori, Pasifika, Pacific Rim, Malaysia, Fiji FANZ, Samoa and Tonga Auckland. The ISSA Team was selected at the Australian Indigenous Netball Carnival held in January this year on the Gold Coast organised by Budgies Australian Netball Indigenous Corporation. The Carnival consisted on 3 divisions U14’s, U16’s and Open with teams coming from Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western
Back row Kayla Dickie (WA) Kyara Nean (NSW) Tjarra Kilpatrick (NSW) Tasha Dack (NT) Shania Evans (QLD) Ngtali Malone (QLD) Rachel Kenn (QLD) Tegan Edwards (VIC) Front Row Rikka Lamb (NSW) Talisha Thompson (QLD) Zali Mifsud (VIC) Shiane Clemments (QLD)
Australia and Northern Territory. There were over 250 young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander netballers participating in this carnival. The Budgies Development Pathways program teams U12’s, U14’s and U14’s Development, U15’s and U15’s Development, U16’s and U16’s Development and U18’s will play in the Gold Coast Tournament held in July 2014. Budgies Netballers are
the representatives of the best Indigenous players throughout Australia. In January each year, every state is invited to bring their Indigenous State Teams to the national carnival where they play over a 5 day period. This is a great carnival and families enjoy catching up with their people from all over the place. From there, Budgies teams are selected for 14yrs, 15yrs, 16yrs, 18yrs and a top
team is chosen to compete against other countries in the International Schoolgirls Challenge. Girls must be at school to be part of this program. Skills are developed and mentoring is provided. Get in touch with your state contacts and be part of this great opportunity. Make new friends and catch up with old ones. To find out more about Budgies Netball click onto http://www. budgiesnetball.com.au
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