West Coast Fever will step out onto the court wearing its 2020 Indigenous Dress in celebration of the Suncorp Super Netball Indigenous Round this weekend.
The dress has been designed by Noongar artists, Peter Farmer and Kylie Graham and features seven circular symbols representing the seven players on court gathering or coming together and the unpredictable path water weaves throughout the landscape.
There are also 90-degree angles that symbolise the sections of the netball court and the sometimes-sharp turns that life takes each individual on in their journey, while there are symbols of Aboriginal culture that represent the female.
West Coast Fever athlete and Shooting Stars Ambassador, Verity Charles said she is honoured to wear the dress with her 12 teammates.
“I love it! Absolutely love it,” said Charles.
“This is probably my favourite dress and it’s an awesome opportunity for us to be able to represent such a beautiful culture, the oldest culture going around in the world.”
West Coast Fever has a strong connection with the WA Indigenous community through its official charity partner, Shooting Stars which is an educational program that uses sport and other vehicles to empower young Aboriginal girls and women living in remote communities and regional towns in Western Australia.
“It’s pretty amazing, I’m pretty lucky with my role with Shooting Stars. I get to go up north nearly every year and build relationships with the girls, sharing with them the importance of education as well as eating well and being healthy and active,” said Charles.
“It’s my favourite part of the year! I love seeing the girls grow and I love being out on country and learning from them and growing with them.”
Traditionally the Club would take part in an official dress blessing ceremony with Shooting Stars participants at the Gold Netball Centre. Although slightly different this year, Fever kept with tradition and held their own dress blessing in the Queensland Hub, led by respected Noongar Elder and Noongar language specialist, Aunty Roma Winmar via telephone call.
West Coast Fever was one of the first clubs in the league to host an Indigenous Round featuring its own Indigenous Dress which prompted Suncorp Super Netball to adopt a league-wide Indigenous Round.
Fever are set to take on Giants Netball this weekend for Indigenous Round at 11am on Saturday 19 September. Watch all the action on 9GEM or the Netball Live app.
