Aboriginal Indigenous Sport
Traditional Aboriginal games
Traditional Aboriginal games were almost lost after colonisation. Discover the broad variety of traditional Aboriginal sport, the most well-known of which is Marngrook, said to have inspired the white Australian sport of Australian Rules.
Discover Traditional Aboriginal games
Famous in Aboriginal sport
This is just a start of a collection of Aboriginal people who are successful in their sports discipline.
- Jeff 'Mitta' Dynevor, first Aboriginal athelete to win a Commonwealth Games gold medal in 1962 for boxing where we fought with his friends and community peers Eddie Barney and Adrian Blair. [5]
- Chad Reed, motocross rider. He was born and raised in Kurri Kurri (NSW, Hunter Valley)
- Brad Hardman, golfer. He played the Australian Indigenous Golf Championships in Alice Springs. Brad lost one leg as a 15-year-old in a car crash [2].
- George Green, first Indigenous league player in 1909.
- Eric Simms, rugby league player for South Sydney in the 1960s and 1970s. "His skill with the boot brought his side so many field goals that the lawmakers downgraded their value from two points to one." [3]
- Eric Robinson played Aboriginal rugby league for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the 1960s Three of his grandsons play rugby league today.
- Bruce 'Larpa' Stewart, rugby league player in the 1960s.
- Larry Corowa, rugby league player for Balmain in the 1970s.
- Cliffy Lyons, rugby league player for Manly in the 1980s.
- Arthur Beetson, rugby league player and 'greatest attacking forward of his generation'.
- Lin and Dick Johnson, rugby league players in the 1940s playing in different teams.
- Benn Harradine, Australia's first Indigenous field event athlete and the first Indigenous field athlete to represent Australia at an Olympic Game (Beijing 2008).
- Cathy Freeman, track and field athlete.
- Patrick Johnson, track and field athlete.
- Nova Peris-Kneebone, track and field athlete.
- Joshua Ross, track and field athlete.
- Kyle Vander-Kuyp, track and field athlete.
- Anthony Little, boxer, who represented Australia at the 2004 Olympics.
- Eddie Betts, AFL player from Kalgoorlie-Boulder in Western Australia [6].
Aboriginal rugby league knockout is an annual event in eastern NSW which is very popular.
Aboriginal players in rugby league and Australian rules
Aboriginal people seem to have a natural talent to excel in rugby league. In the National Rugby League 11% of their players were of Indigenous heritage. In 2008 Australia's national rugby league team saw a record number of five Aboriginal players (38%) in their ranks of 13:
- Greg Inglis, winger
- Justin Hodges, centre
- Jonathan Thurston, halfback
- Greg Bird, lock
- Carl Webb (interchange)
Aboriginal people themselves account for only about 2.3% of Australia's population.
Australian rules football has a special place in the culture of many Aboriginal communities. In some instances it has become as much as 'an obsession' and a tool to keep children in school and promote healthy lifestyle messages [1].
When we play football there's that connection with the land that we are on and the way that we play. When you see two brothers or three brothers playing on the same team you can just see this natural ability shine through. —Adam Goodes, Aboriginal football player [1]
Indigenous Australian Football League (AFL) fact file
This is a small snapshot of Aboriginal AFL statistics in 2008 [4]:
- The AFL's Indigenous programs reach more than 87,000 Aboriginal people or 36% of Australia's Aboriginal population.
- 25 Australian Football Indigenous academies operate across the country.
- Four AFL clubs engage with Aboriginal communities: Essendon (Wadeye), Geelong (Gove and Groote), Richmond (Alice Springs) and Collingwood (Katherine).
- 189 Indigenous players have played AFL/VFL football.
- 72 players are on AFL club lists, a historic record.
- Indigenous football players make up 10% of the AFL competition, another historic record.
- 14 Aboriginal players have played 200 games or more, 7 more than 250 games, one has reached 300 games (Gavin Wanganeen).
- 156 Indigenous players have made their AFL/VFL debut since 1980. Only 23 did so prior to 1980.
Young supporter of the Aboriginal rugby league knockout. The event is family-friendly and alcohol-free.
Aboriginal sporting events
Aboriginal people love their sport. Here's a list of popular Aboriginal sporting events:
- Torres Strait Island of Origin rugby league carnival: Held over the Queen's Birthday long weekend usually on Thursday Island or Badu. 2010 sees the 25th anniversary of the rugby league carnival.
- Aboriginal Power Cup (APC): The Aboriginal Power Cup was created in April 2008 and targets Aboriginal students. They must attend at least 70% of their classes to attend this sporting event.
- ... to be continued ...
Sport: Are you an Aboriginal person? Get involved!
For this project I'd like to involve Aboriginal people as much as possible. It should also become a platform for your voice and your story.
If you think you can contribute to any of these areas on the left-hand side, I am happy to listen to your advice. If necessary I can help you to put it into words, an audio file or an image for this site.
Contact me and we can find a way how your story helps towards true reconciliation.
Out of respect for Aboriginal culture I use Indigenous sources as much as possible.
[1] 'A racist? What rot!', Koori Mail 426, p.85
[2] 'He's the face of black golf', Koori Mail 422, p.91
[3] NIT 10/7/2008 p.27
[4] 'Huge celebration of Indigenous football', Koori Mail 427 p.101
[5] 'Cherbourg boxing legend passes on', Koori Mail 431 p.27
[6] 'Eddie Betts is one of the best!', Koori Mail 431 p.87
The author of this site wishes to recognise the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the traditional custodians of the land in which we live and work.