Finnan-White on sport’s watershed moment

By Stephanie Smarrelli

For the head coach of Queensland’s First Nations team Sharon Finnan-White OAM, the pilot First Nations Tournament marks a monumental moment in time for First Nations netballers. 

Having retired from playing in 2000, Finnan-White has spent the last two decades advocating for First Nations athletes. 

She founded the Sharon Finnan-White First Nations Academy of Excellence to help young people in the First Nations community pursue netball.  

"Talking to the young people in the community about my experiences, a lot of the people in those remote communities didn't know a lot about netball. It was a popular sport in those communities and there is a lot of talent there, I wanted to engage them to help Indigenous girls enter the high performance pathway,” she said.  

“It’s about giving them access to gyms, strength and conditioning, athlete education and sports psychology.   

“I feel there's a really big gap from grassroots to the next step in terms of having that understanding and knowledge in a culturally safe way.”   

A proud Dunghutti, Biripi and Gumbaynggirr woman having herself been one of only three Indigenous Origin Diamonds in the sport’s history she’s excited for the pilot of the First Nations Tournament to hopefully become a fixture in the Australian netball calendar. 

“Having only three Indigenous women who have played for Australia is a very poor statistic and there's been obstacles for our girls' pathways,” she said. 

“This tournament shows a clear pathway now embedded within the Netball Australia system and that's something we've always been striving for to make this pathway business as usual for netball and not just an add-on that’s ad hoc or one-off,” she said. 

While Finnan-White's Queensland First Nations team will be aiming to return home as champions Sunday night, the tournament is about more than netball for the coach and her athletes. 

"I'm really looking forward to seeing the girls get out on court, play their natural game and engage with all the other athletes from around the country,” she said. 

“For me it's not just about the netball, it's about those cultural engagements and the girls who may have never represented their state before getting the opportunity to be on stage for their state having a chance to catch the eye of selectors to progress further and be given other opportunities in the pathway.” 

One way Finnan-White has injected a connection to First Nations culture in the team is through a yarning circle. 

The team were joined by Origin Diamond Donnell Wallam who stayed with the team for a weekend the side spent together. 

"To have Donnell there and listen to her journey, her challenges, what she loves about netball, her inspirational messages about always staying true to your values which we’ve witnessed during the last few years she stands up for what she believes in, her connectedness to her family and her values really resonated with all of the girls in the yarning circle,” she said. 

“It was a real special moment because we knew how lucky we were to have her time and have that connectedness with her knowing she's leaving Australia.” 

Finnan-White also highlighted the values the team shares with one another from inclusiveness to connection and wanting to represent their mob. 

"We spoke about our ancestors and how they've struggled and how they've paved the way for us,” Finnan-White said. 

“We want to take their strength and resilience with us into this tournament we're playing for them. 

“I also spoke to the team about the importance of people like Ali Tucker-Munro, Marcia Ella Duncan OAM, Melina Saunders, Stacey Campton, Josie Janz-Dawson and myself who have advocated over so many years to get to this point to create these opportunities for the girls. I want them to always remember and take it with them on this journey to inspire them.” 

With the ultimate goal of the tournament to win, Finnan-White believes she’s got a few aces in the Queensland team. 

"Jayden Molo is such a powerful athlete she just glides around the court and is instinctive,” she said. 

“Kiera Heffernan is a real leader, a real director, and never gives up, you always get 100 per cent work ethic from her and Georgia Lindsay is calm, composed and very accurate.”  

Finnan-White was relieved to learn of the tournament earlier this year. 

“My first reaction was extreme excitement and then second was relief because over the last two decades I’ve been advocating for something like this,” she said. 

“I've been advocating alongside Ali, Marcia, Melina, Josie and Stacey.  

“These women have helped pave the way so for all of us there’s the feeling of excitement and pride knowing our girls now get this opportunity to showcase their skills on a bigger stage and have those opportunities to be selected and noticed for future high-performance teams.”   

Finnan-White has experienced firsthand the challenges that come with being a First Nations athlete. 

“The major challenge for me was being the only Indigenous person in the Australian Diamonds squad over a 10-year period, a lot of people wanted to know why I was the only one,” she said. 

“I got asked a lot of questions from the media about it and I didn't really know how to answer those questions because we grew up without culture, my mum being part of the stolen generation my brother and I didn’t know a lot. 

"I felt a lot of expectation on me to be all things Indigenous and I found it quite daunting.” 

She has been on a journey of discovery to uncover the barriers for First Nations athletes and to learn more about Indigenous culture to help athletes overcome those barriers. 

“Learning more about the barriers and challenges for our girls led me to work in this space and advocate for our young women to have opportunities and pathways to one day play for Australia and speak with the netball people and bodies about how to make changes to create welcoming and inclusive spaces for our girls,” she said. 

“That’s why I'm so relieved this tournament is finally happening because there has been a lot of talking, a lot of sharing of my cultural knowledge and ideas that went unheard for many years.” 

Finnan-White commended Netball Australia in taking strides for First Nations athletes. 

"It’s not just Ali in there, we have key people within Netball Australia who I believe have the passion and genuine drive in wanting to push this in Ali, Stacey West and Liz Ellis AO,” she said. 

“Liz being on the board, this was one of the key initiatives she wanted to make sure she's standing up for. As a former teammate of mine, I'm proud she's got us on her radar. 

“Stacey, I was at the AIS with in the late 80s, I've had a connection with her for a long time and to see her now in this leadership role at Netball Australia really leading the way in this space I want to commend.”  

While glad to have First Nations athletes high on the agenda, Finnan-White acknowledged there’s still plenty of work to do in the space to ensure First Nations athletes are given the best opportunity to succeed. 

She highlighted the importance of collaboration across the entire netball ecosystem from local clubs and associations to state and territory member organisations and Netball Australia. 

“For this to work and be sustainable we must have the MO's backing this and working with their local Indigenous community and groups,” she said. 

“It’s important for them to be fully immersed and connecting with First Nations people to take this on as business as usual and encourage clubs and associations to do the same. 

“It's new and challenging and it could be out of people's comfort zones, but everyone needs to embrace it and get involved.”  

Tune in to the First Nations Tournament live and on demand on KommunityTV.