The GIANTS have unveiled their 2023 First Nations dress that will be worn during rounds 11 and 12 of the league’s dedicated First Nations celebrations.
The 2023 artwork was designed by Gamilaroi woman, Krystal Dallinger and aims to motivate future generations.
“The inspiration behind the design this year takes a lot from my community back home,” said Dallinger.
“We’re struggling quite a bit, with the bushfires, the droughts, the flooding and the crime rate as well, which is taking a toll on mental health.
“So I wanted to create a design that shines the light on it’s okay to not be okay.”
Dallinger, who was first welcomed into the club through a relationship with former GIANT Sam Poolman, has designed every First Nations dress for the club since the introduction of the dedicated round back in 2018.
“I always try to keep the consistent theme of community and supporting one and other,” she said.
“It’s always about friends and family and being together. But I always try and change up the design each year to touch on different subjects that need to be brought into the light.”
This year Dallinger was also approached by the league to design the artwork for the custom match balls, umpire uniforms and centre circle design.
“Being approached to design the overall First Nations design was unbelievable,” said Dallinger.
“It’s such an honour for me, my family and friends to have this sort of opportunity and it gives me another platform to give these situations a new light and I’m just so excited to see it all over the stadiums across Australia this year.”
The Suncorp Super Netball First Nations round coincides with National Reconciliation week and recognises the histories, cultures and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to the sport of netball and to the nation.
The importance to celebrate the round is an occasion that makes Dallinger and her community proud.
“It’s so important to be able to represent the Indigenous culture because it makes us proud as a community to be able to teach and educate others,” she said.
“We are the oldest culture in the world and it’s just a whole different privilege to represent that in sport because we are very athletic and there are so many indigenous people in the sporting world that don’t get that sort of representation.”
The GIANTS will host a dedicated First Nations round this Sunday, when they host the Queensland Firebirds at Ken Rosewall Arena.
