First Nations national team announces name

Netball Australia has announced the inaugural First Nations national team’s coaching line-up and team name.  

The team will be known as the First Nations national team, the Black Swans – named after the uniquely Australian species.  

Black Swans are indigenous to Australia and feature in many Dreaming stories from across various First Nations language groups. 

Black Swans possess a range of attributes and are known for:  

• their uniqueness, beauty, and rareness 
• being inherently linked to this ancient land 
• moving with grace, dignity and with a strong presence 
• being loyal, protective and commanding attention when sighted. 

These attributes underscore the essence of the athletes invited to represent their culture, countries, and communities in the First Nations Black Swans team.  

Twelve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander netballers from across Australia have been invited to represent the First Nations Black Swans at this year's Pacific Netball Series, taking place between June 10 to 15 in Meanjin (Brisbane) at Nissan Arena. 

The team will be coached by proud Kamilaroi woman and former Australian Diamonds squad member Ali Tucker-Munro. 

Tucker-Munro is a highly-experienced national league player and coach, having coached a number of Netball NSW pathway programs, including as GIANTS Academy head coach and head coach of GIANTS Netball’s Australian National Championship team. In 2021, she was awarded Netball NSW’s Margaret Corbett OAM Coach of the Year award.  

In 2022, Tucker-Munro became the first First Nations coach to coach in an official capacity at the Suncorp Super Netball level when, in Round 5, she was assistant coach with GIANTS Netball. Holding an Elite Netball Coaching Accreditation, Tucker-Munro currently is head coach of the UTS Randwick Sparks Opens team in the NSW Premier League.  

“This is a moment in time that I, and many of our people, thought we’d never see in Australian netball. I am humbled and blessed to have this wonderful opportunity to coach the inaugural First Nations national team,” Tucker-Munro said. 

‘I’m particularly looking forward to working with the amazing First Nations athletes who make up this team. Being able to walk beside these proud empowered First Nations women and high-performance athletes is a privilege, and I cannot wait to see them compete and represent our communities with pride.” 

The assistant coach is Vanessa Dempsey, a proud Ngarrindjeri, Narungga and Jingili woman who has a wealth of experience coaching in the Netball SA pathway. Dempsey has been head coach of Oakdale Netball Club’s open team in the SA Premier League for several years, and recently won the 17/U 2024 National Netball Championships as assistant coach of the South Australian 17/U state team. Vanessa is also head coach of Netball SA’s Rising Sisters Aboriginal Netball Program, and is a key facilitator of the SA Nunga Netball Carnival.  

“I am honoured to be a part of this historical moment for Indigenous people in netball in Australia,” Dempsey said.   

Tucker-Munro also works as Netball Australia’s First Nations Engagement Lead and was instrumental in establishing the First Nations Black Swans. Tucker-Munro was also behind Netball Australia’s inaugural First Nations coaching course, specifically designed for First Nations netball coaches actively coaching within a national sporting organisation or member organisation’s high-performance pathway program in Australia.  
 
The formation of the First Nations Black Swans aims to provide equitable and accelerated opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander netballers, informed by netball's commitment to increase representation and retention of First Nations netballers within the high-performance pathway. Athletes were invited into the inaugural team based on their experience in national high performance pathway programs.