| posted on August 3, 2017
THE Southern Districts Junior Football Football Association celebrated its NAIDOC round on Saturday.
Players and coaches at Albany fixtures gathered before their matches to hear words of encouragement from local Noongar sportsman Graeme Simpson, who also played the didgeridoo.
Simpson encouraged the young footballers to think about what it meant to play together as close teammates, particularly in the wintery conditions.
He said that playing sport offered a great opportunity to bring people together “on a level playing field”.
The centre circles of the playing fields were painted in red, black and gold to mark the occasion, and teams were provided with the opportunity of putting forward indigenous players as captains for the coin toss.
The round, developed as part of NAIDOC celebrations, also celebrates the effort of past and present indigenous players.
Denmark’s junior footballers will celebrate their NAIDOC round this weekend.
