The NSW Swifts are delighted to reveal the club’s uniform for Suncorp Super Netball’s 2020 Indigenous Round, which takes place this week.
The defending champions will play the Adelaide Thunderbirds in Cairns on Saturday, in what will be a very special occasion on the tip of the Sunshine State.
The theme for Indigenous Round 2020 is A Women’s Ceremony – a gathering of many journeys at the same destination, and while the narrative was created before the announcement of a Queensland hub, it now has additional relevance with all teams travelling to Far North Queensland for Round 13.
For this year’s Indigenous dress, the NSW Swifts teamed up with Principal Partner QBE Insurance and their charity partners Stars Foundation.
The charity works in schools across Australia to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander girls and young women with their education and wellbeing.
In 2020 some of the students who work with Stars were given the opportunity to submit artwork for the Swifts’ Indigenous dress.
The winning design was created by Iman, a boarding school student in Darwin who comes from a remote community in the Northern Territory.
A passionate artist and netball player she incorporated the iconic red and blue of the NSW Swifts into the dress with the stars in the corner of the design representing the players.
The lines in the design show the different qualities of the athletes – teamwork, fitness, communication, leadership, fairness, reliability and respect – while the large curved band represents the obstacles the team face along the way, and their ability to overcome them.
NSW Swifts and Diamonds defender Maddy Turner said the players were honoured to wear Iman’s design this weekend.
“Firstly, I am delighted that Indigenous Round is back in 2020,” she said.
“It is vital that this goes from strength to strength each year as diversity, inclusion and reconciliation are key parts of Australian life. Netball is part of the fabric of Australian life too so they go hand in hand.
“Given the theme of this year’s Round and the fact we’re all going to be in Far North Queensland it will be a really special weekend.”
Of the dress, Turner said the design was very apt for the team in 2020.
“What I really love about the dress is the large curved band which says that no journey is ever straight forward.
“We parked the success of 2019 long ago and 2020 has had a lot of ups and downs for us so far.
“But we are here in Queensland, still on the journey and looking to ride the curve to the other side. We believe great things can still happen for us this season.
“Iman’s design speaks to us as a team and we can’t wait to run out in Cairns wearing it.”
