Netball: Officials vow to address lack of indigenous representation at all levels after Queensland Firebird Jemma Mi Mi’s indigenous round snub raised historical issues

Netball officials have vowed to address its lack of indigenous representation at all levels after Queensland Firebird Jemma Mi Mi’s indigenous round brought historical issues of racism to the fore

A “mandate to win” for Queensland Firebirds coach Roselee Jencke was justification enough for Super Netball’s only Aboriginal player, Jemma Mi Mi, to get no court time in the competition’s Indigenous round.

Netball Queensland chair Eugenie Buckley defended Jencke‘s decision on a day officials declared they wanted to “break down the barriers” that have stopped Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players, coaches, umpires and administrators ”flourishing” in the sport.

While Buckley is part of the coalition, she said Jencke had a “mandate to win”.

Already out of top-four contention, the Firebirds beat the Vixens 64-58 in Cairns during this month‘s Indigenous round.

Mi Mi seemed set to enter proceedings in the final minute of the match, but the change wasn‘t made.

Instead Mi Mi, who went on to play a key role in the Firebirds final round, missed out on any game time despite being used heavily in promoting Indigenous round.

“There‘s the community aspect but there’s also the high performance aspect,” Buckley said.

“Super Netball is the best netball league around the world, so suggestions that once you‘re outside the top four you’re no longer playing to win do a disservice to netball and a disservice to the level the ... competition brings.

“Of course I would have liked to see her (Mi Mi) play personally but I don‘t think putting any player on for the last 30 seconds ...that then buys into tokenism which we’re avoiding.”

“This is more than one player at one point in time in a league ... we acknowledge that we need to do better. It‘s the holistic approach.”

Netball’s peak organisations have pledged to take significant action to break down the barriers that have prevented Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players, coaches, umpires and administrators from flourishing in the sport.

Full details - https://t.co/hGCHQnZOH1 pic.twitter.com/OcQKXMzcgy

— Suncorp Super Netball (@SuperNetball) September 29, 2020

Such an approach has led to a “Declaration of Commitment” being signed by 20 national, state and territory based and club bodies to rectify under-representation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in netball‘s elite level.

“We acknowledge that netball hasn’t fully addressed the barriers that confront Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our system, and we apologise for this,” the coalition declared jointly.

“We know it is unacceptable to have only one Aboriginal player within the Suncorp Super Netball league, but our challenge as a sport goes far beyond what happened to one player in a single game.

“We understand that strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation rates and talent within our grassroots and state and territory competitions are not translating into our elite pathway.”

Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich declared it was her aim to have at least one Indigenous player in Australia‘s squad for the 2027 Netball World Cup that Sydney was bidding to host.

But the immediate focus will be on understanding experiences of players, coaches, umpires and administrators, and identifying the barriers to greater Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation.

Marcia Ella-Duncan and Sharon Finnan-White, Aboriginal players who both represented the Diamonds, will have leadership roles to deliver the promised change.

A national strategy framework as well its targets are set to be announced in April next year.

Originally published as Netball: Officials vow to address lack of indigenous representation at all levels after Queensland Firebird Jemma Mi Mi’s indigenous round snub raised historical issues