Goulburn Valley League celebrates Indigenous Round

SPECIAL GAME... Lancaster Football Club on Sunday at the Indigenous Round played in Lancaster. Lancaster's Senior and Reserves teams bet Violet Town 67-64 (Seniors) and 64-42 (Reserves). Photo: Geoff Adams.

GOTAFE Goulburn Valley League (GVL) celebrated its annual Indigenous Round over the weekend.
Coinciding with NAIDOC Week, this special round of sport celebrates the culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the GVL communities.

“This round is always a special round in the GVL’s calendar. It’s a fantastic opportunity to come together and celebrate our Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander players, history and culture. Our member clubs all celebrate the day with acknowledgements, Welcome to Country, traditional dancing and smoking ceremonies organised at various games,” said GVL acting chair, Jacqui Hudgson.

The GVL is already looking beyond the Round to 2023, and is excited to announce that the League is the successful recipient of a $147,000 funding grant from the ‘Preventing the Cycle of Violence – Strengthening Families’ fund. Using this grant, GVL will offer an expansion of the Cultural Sporting Prevention implemented in the KDL.

It will be led by GOTAFE’s Koorie Unit Coordinator, Tracy Hardie, and will run in partnership with GVL and AFL Goulburn-Murray. This will be a whole league initiative, with all 12 member clubs participating.

“The opportunity to create greater understanding and knowledge of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders history and culture whilst promoting the No Violence message is incredibly powerful. We look forward to ensuring the success of the project in 2023 and beyond,” said Ms Hudgson.

The initiative will include a ‘Say No to Violence’ round where all senior football and A Grade netball players will participate in a line up for a plater address, and a family fun day will be held at a feature match with guest speakers to read the player address.

There will also be an expansion of the current Indigenous Round, with all football and netball teams to be outfitted in Indigenous designed apparel.

SPECIAL GAME… Lancaster Football Club on Sunday at the Indigenous Round played in Lancaster. Lancaster’s Senior and Reserves teams bet Violet Town 67-64 (Seniors) and 64-42 (Reserves). Photo: Geoff Adams.