A 1700km move for a shot at making netball history

When Sharon Finnan-White made her debut in 1990, she became Australia’s second and last Aboriginal woman to don the green and gold dress.Now, more than two decades since her retirement from the sport, there is a change in the air.Sixteen-year-old Kyanne Priestley from Alice Springs has uprooted her life for a shot at making history.The emerging centre has made the 1700km trek from her hometown to Townsville to join the Indigenous Diamonds pathway program, a game-changing initiative designed to mentor up and coming First Nations talent.For Priestley, the move represents an opportunity to break down longstanding barriers embedded in the sport for Indigenous women.“There’s a lot of talent throughout the whole of Australia,” she said.“But I feel like Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls often get overlooked.”The program, which has now launched an inaugural squad of more than a dozen players, is being spearheaded by none other than former Diamond Finnan-White.From March, the team will compete in the local Townsville league, with a goal to have an all Indigenous team in the Super Netball league within five years.The lack of Indigenous representation came to the fore in 2020 when the only Indigenous player in the national Super Netball league, Jemma Mi Mi, was left off the court during the competition’s Indigenous round.Netball Australia acknowledged the sport had fallen short on this occasion and subsequently announced a Declaration of Commitment to address the barriers holding back Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from reaching their full potential in the sport.The on-court controversy served as the catalyst for Finnan-White to develop the pathways program with her business partner Aunty Roma Pregarc.Finnan-White says she believes unconscious bias and racism had turned a lot players away over the years.At the lower levels, netball is popular among the Indigenous population, with four per cent of all participants identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.It leads Priestley to believe affordability can also be a barrier for Indigenous players when it comes to making it to the highest level.“Netball is pretty expensive,” she said. “Along (with the games), there’s shoes and the dresses, and a lot of families can’t afford it.”The sport holds a special place in Priestley’s family, stretching back several generations.“I grew up playing it, and so did my mum and sister. My grandmother used to play it too.” she said.“So I guess it’s just been passed down through the family, and it’s just a sport we all love.”Sitting across the table, Kyanne’s mum, Marissa Priestley, said she was excited to see her daughter determined to achieve her goals, even though she missed her presence at home.“Seeing that Kyanne is wanting to go back to Townsville is probably more amazing than her getting into the squad in the first place because now she’s setting her dreams into place,” she said.Ms Priestley said was proud to see so many young, talented Indigenous women in the squad after years of low representation at the top level.“It’s quite disheartening to hear and see that it’s taken more than 20 years to try and get another Indigenous person into the Australian diamonds team,” she said. “It shouldn’t be that way, but you’ve got to start somewhere.”Priestley will return to Townsville in the coming days to start up training again as her team prepares to make a splash at their first competitive game in March.

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January 14, 2022 at 12:30AM
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When Sharon Finnan-White made her debut in 1990, she became Australia’s second and last Aboriginal woman to don the green and gold dress.Now, more than two decades since her retirement from the sport, there is a change in the air.Sixteen-year-old Kyanne Priestley from Alice Springs has uprooted her life for a shot at making history.The emerging centre has made the 1700km trek from her hometown to Townsville to join the Indigenous Diamonds pathway program, a game-changing initiative designed to mentor up and coming First Nations talent.For Priestley, the move represents an opportunity to break down longstanding barriers embedded in the sport for Indigenous women.“There’s a lot of talent throughout the whole of Australia,” she said.“But I feel like Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls often get overlooked.”The program, which has now launched an inaugural squad of more than a dozen players, is being spearheaded by none other than former Diamond Finnan-White.From March, the team will compete in the local Townsville league, with a goal to have an all Indigenous team in the Super Netball league within five years.The lack of Indigenous representation came to the fore in 2020 when the only Indigenous player in the national Super Netball league, Jemma Mi Mi, was left off the court during the competition’s Indigenous round.Netball Australia acknowledged the sport had fallen short on this occasion and subsequently announced a Declaration of Commitment to address the barriers holding back Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from reaching their full potential in the sport.The on-court controversy served as the catalyst for Finnan-White to develop the pathways program with her business partner Aunty Roma Pregarc.Finnan-White says she believes unconscious bias and racism had turned a lot players away over the years.At the lower levels, netball is popular among the Indigenous population, with four per cent of all participants identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.It leads Priestley to believe affordability can also be a barrier for Indigenous players when it comes to making it to the highest level.“Netball is pretty expensive,” she said. “Along (with the games), there’s shoes and the dresses, and a lot of families can’t afford it.”The sport holds a special place in Priestley’s family, stretching back several generations.“I grew up playing it, and so did my mum and sister. My grandmother used to play it too.” she said.“So I guess it’s just been passed down through the family, and it’s just a sport we all love.”Sitting across the table, Kyanne’s mum, Marissa Priestley, said she was excited to see her daughter determined to achieve her goals, even though she missed her presence at home.“Seeing that Kyanne is wanting to go back to Townsville is probably more amazing than her getting into the squad in the first place because now she’s setting her dreams into place,” she said.Ms Priestley said was proud to see so many young, talented Indigenous women in the squad after years of low representation at the top level.“It’s quite disheartening to hear and see that it’s taken more than 20 years to try and get another Indigenous person into the Australian diamonds team,” she said. “It shouldn’t be that way, but you’ve got to start somewhere.”Priestley will return to Townsville in the coming days to start up training again as her team prepares to make a splash at their first competitive game in March.