UniSport Indigenous Nationals

UNSW proudly celebrated the 30th anniversary of UniSport Australia’s Indigenous Nationals, joining universities from across the country for a memorable week of competition, culture and connection hosted by the University of Newcastle.

The annual event brings together Indigenous student-athletes from universities across Australia to compete in a mixed-format, multi-sport competition, while celebrating the rich sporting culture of Indigenous Australia and acknowledging the heritage, history and stories of the participating student-athletes.

Representing UNSW this year were Elijah Kinnavong, Sophie Martin (Co-Captain), Martin Braun, Jack Perrin, Georgia Farrell, Madeline Shen-Turner, Stella Biles, Daniel Buckman, Chad Buckman (Co-Captain), Abbie Towers, Tayla Cooley, Illarrah Roberts, Ben Goodwin and Octavia Williams.

UNSW opened the week in outstanding fashion in basketball, going undefeated through pool play with wins over the University of Tasmania (34-12), RMIT University (34-7) and Queensland University of Technology (18-16). The squad continued their strong run in the quarter-finals, edging Australian University 22-21 in a thriller, before falling to eventual champions and hosts the University of Newcastle 28-14 in the semi-finals.

Day two saw UNSW take to the netball court, beginning strongly with a 16-6 win over the University of the Sunshine Coast. The team then faced a challenging run against Monash University and the University of Wollongong, going down 18-12 and 24-7 respectively to close out the day.

UNSW returned to form in touch football, starting with an impressive 8-0 win over Federation University before backing it up with a 4-1 victory against Monash University. A narrow 3-2 loss to Charles Sturt University in the final pool match saw UNSW narrowly miss a place in the finals, despite another strong showing across the day.

The week concluded with volleyball, where UNSW again started brightly with a 2-0 win over RMIT University and a hard-fought 2-1 victory against La Trobe University. The team’s final pool match came against Deakin University, with UNSW going down 2-0 to finish another competitive day of action.

After four days of competition across basketball, netball, touch football and volleyball, UNSW finished ninth overall in a highly competitive field.

While the results across the week were a highlight, Indigenous Nationals was about far more than the scoreboard. The 30th anniversary event provided a powerful opportunity for student-athletes to connect, compete and celebrate Indigenous culture through sport, while building friendships and memories that extended well beyond the playing arena.

A huge thank you to Arc Sport for their continued support of our student-athletes throughout the week. Their commitment to creating opportunities for Indigenous students to represent UNSW and celebrate culture through sport plays an invaluable role in making experiences like Indigenous Nationals possible. Congratulations to the entire UNSW squad on an outstanding week of competition. We can’t wait to see the team back in action at Indigenous Nationals next year.