A month to celebrate and inspire

Australian soccer forward Kyah Simon said on Sunday she would never have aspired to play for the Matildas had she not sat glued to the television watching Cathy Freeman run at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Indigenous Sport Month, launched at the weekend, is a celebration of Australia’s Indigenous sporting champions. Just as importantly, it is about inspiring and empowering the next generation. The timing is perfect. Women’s Tennis world number one Ashleigh Barty begins her quest to recapture the French Open in Paris on Monday. And as Australia’s Olympic team prepares for Tokyo, one of the team shirts will feature art work by Beijing 2008 Olympic boxer Paul Fleming. It depicts “52 steps’’, one for each Australian Indigenous athlete to have competed at previous Olympics.

During this special month, News Corp papers will salute national heroes whose talents have done so much to help the nation punch above its weight in world sport. From Barty’s hero, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, to world boxing champion Lionel Rose and Hockeyroo Nova Peris, the treasure trove of stories runs deep. In every football code, players such as Adam Goodes (AFL), Arthur Beetson and Johnathan Thurston (rugby league) and Wallabies Kurtley Beale and the Ella brothers — Mark, Glen and Gary — inspired youngsters on and off the field. Being role models, these men and scores of others have made immense, positive contributions to their people and the nation.

There are better ways to effect change than taking to the streets. As Peter Lalor writes on Monday, the International Olympic Committee recently banned political protests at the Tokyo Games, apparently in response to Black Lives Matter. And a survey by the Australian Olympic Committee Athletes Commission found 80 per cent of respondents believed the field of play and podium should be free from political protests. Used in the right way at the right time, however, the Aboriginal flag is a symbol for good. While the AOC is awaiting details from the IOC, an AOC spokesman said it viewed the Aboriginal flag as “a celebration of Indigenous identity”. After winning Olympic gold, Freeman grabbed the Koori and Australian flags for a lap of honour. She has said little about that moment. But, as Lalor writes, she said in a recent film she wanted to shout, “Look at me. Look at … my skin, I am black and I am the best there is. No more shame … I have always been very mindful of my ancestors”. Deservedly so. Indigenous Sport Month promises to change young lives for the better.