By Sophie Taylor
For proud Pintupi-Luritja and Arrernte mother-daughter duo, Lavinia and Kiera Heffernan, netball has always been a uniting force.
Inaugural Australian First Nations Black Swans player Kiera began her netball journey as so many others do – in Woolworths NetSetGO.
“She played in 2013 in the Woolworths NetSetGO program of the Caboolture Netball Association,” mum Lavinia explained.
“From there we moved back to Alice Springs, back home to country to live. She played for the Giants in the Alice Springs Netball Association.
“I was amazed at how well she played. Her ball skills were very good and she could read the game pretty well too.”
Kiera has since represented the Northern Territory in the underage National Netball Championships and open age Australian Netball Championships, and made the 2023 19/U Australian squad.
Kiera Heffernan started playing netball in 2013.From there, the rest is history.
“She just kept ringing my phone, non-stop. I was like, ‘aye, why is she ringing me all the time? What’s going on?’ I couldn’t understand why she kept calling,” Lavinia said.
“Eventually I was free to talk to her. I asked her, ‘hey Kiera, why are you ringing me all the time? I’ve got work to do. I’m busy teaching these workshops here'.
“She told me, ‘Mum, someone rang to see if I would play netball in this new First Nations team'.”
It was an emotional moment for both mother and daughter.
“She was in tears telling me this,” Lavinia explained.
“We were both crying by this time because it was such fantastic news.”
Participating in the 2024 Pacific Netball Series, the inaugural Australian First Nations Black Swans team is made up of 12 First Nations pathways players from around the country.
The First Nations Black Swans made their debut at the Pacific Netball Series in June.While her junior netball has ties to Queensland, Kiera’s family hails from the Northern Territory, roughly 240km north-west of Alice Springs.
“We are from a place called Warumpi. We have two names we use: Warumpi and Papunya,” Lavinia explained.
“Kiera is from Honey Ant dreaming country, and so she will be a representative of her people carrying their name when she plays in that team.”
The First Nations Black Swans dress also hit close to home; the artwork, created by Yuwaalaraay wirringgaa artist Lucy Simpson, incorporates a native ingredient local to the area.
“The uniform has Ipalu - bush banana on it,” Lavinia said.
“It’s bush tucker we get around Papunya, and that is on the First Nations netball team uniform.”
The First Nations Black Swans dress incorporates a native ingredient local to the Heffernan's home.For both Kiera and Lavinia, language is an incredibly important part of their bond and culture.
“Our language is Pintupi-Luritja from Papunya,” Lavinia explained.
“Our languages are very special, and we need to keep them strong by speaking all the time. If we don’t look after them, then one day they will be gone and our people won’t be able to speak them.
“For this reason we need to hang on to them because they are very special and unique.”
***All quotes have been translated from Pintupi-Luritja language by Lavinia Heffernan
