The fourth National Indigenous Tennis Carnival (NITC) took place in Darwin this month with five players from the ACT taking part in the action at the Darwin International Tennis Centre.
The ACT was represented at the event by Brodie Reeve, Zavier Williams-Arena, Hayes Smith, Abraham Quinn and Jaylon Pearce.
“The ACT finished in eighth place out of 10 teams which was a fantastic achievement for our state against tough opposition from the larger states such as Victoria, NSW and Queensland. This was a place better than at the 2022 carnival,” said Harry Menzies, Health and Physical Education teacher at Melba Copland Secondary School who accompanied the team alongside Tennis ACT’s Coach Relationship and Education Manager Colin Thompson.
The four-day event saw more than 160 indigenous tennis players from all states and territories compete in a teams tennis competition and take part in cultural activities such as spear throwing, racquet painting and dancing. Wiradjuri tennis champion Evonne Goolagong Cawley not only presented the champions trophies but was on hand to offer support and advice on tennis and on life to all the young players in attendance.
Zavier Williams-Arena, a year nine student at Melba Copland Secondary School, was awarded a Tennis Australia Deadly Award. The peer-voted award is given to the players displaying respectful, honest and supportive behaviour throughout the event. The award gives him the opportunity to attend a once in a lifetime, behind the scenes experience at one of Tennis Australia’s international events in 2024.
Williams-Arena spoke on behalf of Team ACT at the NITC Cultural Exchange last year and regularly represents his school at public speaking forums as the indigenous representative, as well as presenting during NAIDOC Week. He has strong cultural ties to his indigenous community, the Wiradjuri People – “People of three rivers.”
Brodie Reeve and Hayes Smith joined Williams-Arena in participating in the Australian Open ball kid trials held concurrently with the carnival in Darwin. Three rounds of trial sessions were held, with Williams-Arena and Smith shortlisted and progressing through to await a final selection decision. If selected, the ACT students will attend a two-week training camp in Melbourne later this year before going on to be ball kids at the Australian Open in January 2024.
Celebrating the cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through tennis, the NITC was first launched in 2018 and is an annual event centred around culture, community, tennis, education and wellbeing.
“The National Indigenous Tennis Carnival is a major part of our diversity strategy at Tennis Australia. We recently launched the second phase of our Reconciliation Action Plan and we’re really looking to be more inclusive and create more opportunities for Indigenous tennis,” said
Tennis Australia First Nations Lead Kyah Jones.
“Prior to this week, we had eleven events leading into the National Indigenous Tennis Carnival all over Australia, including in remote communities, helping connect the event more broadly across the country, and provide more participation opportunities.”
“The ACT is extremely proud of these students, who are continually developing as strong Indigenous leaders amongst their peers and the community,” said Menzies at the conclusion of the carnival. “We hope that these amazing opportunities provided by Tennis Australia continue to expand their outlook on the endless possibilities that are available in tennis, sport and life.”
Latest
ACT