NBL1 Central: Ally Wilson, Renai Fejo, Jasmin Fejo celebrate 2022 Indigenous Round
SA’s top basketball competition will celebrate Indigenous Round over the weekend, giving local players the chance to tell their stories. Hear from the stars and see every team’s jersey.
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NBL1 Central will host a special ‘First Nations Round’ this week to recognise the importance of First Nations Australians in local basketball.
Every club will celebrate the round on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday, which comes during NAIDOC Week, with most teams wearing special jerseys to mark the occasion.
Norwood gun Ally Wilson, and Woodville and West Adelaide stars and sisters Renai and Jasmin Fejo are three of the 13 indigenous Australian players in the competition who will be using the round to celebrate First Nations cultures and achievements.
SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW NBL1 INDIGENOUS JERSEYS
They join Chris Decrea (Woodville), Daniel Fejo (Woodville), Zach Scott (West Adelaide), Chloe Purvis (Woodville), Ashalea Perry (Woodville), Emillie Walsh (Sturt), Trasen Pickett-Carbine (Woodville), Iesha Smith (Woodville), Evei Kleinig (Central Districts) and Tom Cromarty (Eastern Mavericks).
“It’s not only important to me because we get to celebrate and educate our culture but it’s also for the next generation of indigenous kids coming through,” Woodville guard Renai Fejo said.
“We can show them that they are supported and accepted in basketball and in the community.”
Fejo – a proud Larrakia, Ngalakan and Jawoyn woman – is the sister of Woodville men’s star Daniel Fejo and West Adelaide gun Jasmin Fejo.
She was thrilled to have the opportunity to share in an Indigenous Round with her family.
“It’s extremely special,” Fejo said.
“All of us being able to come together and celebrate First Nations’ culture and achievements is amazing – it’s something really close to us.”
Fejo was also pleased to see NBL1 clubs jump onboard and create their own jersey for the round, saying it allowed the artists who designed them, and the players who wear them, to tell the stories of the various tribes.
“I’m super excited to wear the Woodville jersey on game day and share in artist Jason Bray’s story,” she said.
“It’s about being able to educate. With the jerseys we can tell our story, each jersey has a different story on it and we’re able to share where we come from. We all live on the same land but we have different journeys.”
Norwood superstar Ally Wilson – who derives from the Ngarrindjeri tribe – said having an Indigenous Round at the local level was important for the community.
“As a country and as a state we’ve done a good job of indigenous rounds professionally but to see it starting to take off at the local level is great and I think NBL1 has done a fantastic job nationwide of celebrating it,” Wilson said.
“The more we can spread cultural awareness locally the better and it’s something I’m so proud of.
“It’s huge for me to be able to wear Norwood’s indigenous jersey and represent my people and my family, and it certainly gives me that extra motivation to win.”
BELOW: SEE THE JERSEYS AND RENAI FEJO’S INTERACTIVE MAP
Click here to view an interactive map designed by Renai Fejo, geographically locating each NBL1 indigenous player’s tribes.
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