Throughout Queensland, football clubs recently held an Indigenous round to celebrate NAIDOC week to acknowledge the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Football Queensland CEO Robert Cavallucci said football is a powerful tool that unites people of all ages, backgrounds and cultures, and NAIDOC Week provides an important opportunity for our clubs and participants across Queensland to support their local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The BeeGees hosted their own Indigenous round on Saturday, July 17 when their Reserve Men’s and the Premier Men’s teams played the Nambour Yandina United Football Club at the Glasshouse Mountains Sportsground.
Club president Shaun DeCourcy explained that the club was keen to not just mark NAIDOC Week, but to officially announce the affiliation between the Beerwah Glasshouse United Football Club and the Sunshine Coast Goannas.
Shaun said the partnership has been eighteen months in the making and demonstrates a collaborative vision to improve access to sports and positive pathways for local Indigenous people, while also strengthening community bonds through football.
To mark the occasion there was a cultural display just prior to the Premier Men’s game with the opportunity for some of the smaller spectators to get involved.
The NYU and Beegees teams also exchanged an indigenous strip to each other that will be framed in the clubhouse.
Sunshine Coast Goannas founder and Landsborough resident Wayne Alberts said that the Goannas jersey incorporates the green of the Beegees jersey as well as circles designed to represent meeting places for Goanna’s and depict pathways for meeting others, which is symbolic of the partnership with Beegees.
If anyone wants to find out more or get involved with the Goannas they can visit the Sunshine Coast Goannas Facebook page or give Wayne a call on 0417 622 826.
