In Summary

  • A sporting team of Swinburne students finished 7th overall in the Indigenous Nationals in Perth
  • Team captain Katie Bugden won the Most Valuable Player for Basketball
  • The Indigenous Nationals are a celebration of the rich sporting culture of Indigenous Australia

Swinburne University of Technology has achieved its best ever result at the 25th UniSports Indigenous Nationals, finishing 7th overall.

In all, 12 Swinburne student athletes went head-to-head with 32 teams from 30 universities across four competitions: touch football, basketball, netball and volleyball. Swinburne won the Basketball Grand Final, and team captain, Katie Bugden, won the ‘Most Valuable Player for Basketball' for the second year in a row.

The University of Western Australia hosted the games from June 23 – 27 and The University of Technology Sydney were the overall winners.

The 2019 Swinburne student athletes competing at the Indigenous Nationals after winning the Basketball Grand Final

The Swinburne team beat hosts the University of Western Australia 36-21 in the basketball grand final

katie Bugden holding most valuable player trophy

Katie Budgen won ’Most Valuable Player for Basketball’ for the second year in a row

The 2019 Swinburne Indigenous Nationals team

Katie and another of the Swinburne team captains, Conor Bowden, said the team was made up of hard-working, top-level competitors who played their best, and they could not be happier with the results.

“It was the first time the 12 of us had played together and it was a great effort,” Conor said.

“We played so well together by the end of the games,” Katie said.

Senior Indigenous Student Advisor with Moondani Toombadool Centre, Joel Boojers, has managed the Swinburne Indigenous Nationals team for the past three years and is very thrilled with the 2019 team.

“To win the basketball final against some very capable teams, and to witness our students combining to produce great results for Swinburne, leaves me feeling very proud of the whole team,” Joel said.

“Other universities were commenting on our results and camaraderie, and when you hear these things it reaffirms how important this week is to our students.”

Indigenous Student Adviser, Cyan Earnshaw, said the games are a great way to celebrate the rich sporting culture of indigenous Australia.

“Having our students compete at the Indigenous Nationals is an important reflection of the work that the Moondani Toombadool Centre does. The centre is vital to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students - no matter their gender or age - are afforded support measures to allow them to complete their chosen field of study successfully.”

Ahead of the games, the team were given an encouraging send-off at the uniform launch at Swinburne’s Hawthorn Campus where Joel Boojers and Student Life Clubs & Sports Officer Regan Longfield gave the team their matching playing uniforms.

Ahead of the games, the team were given an encouraging send-off at the uniform launch at Swinburne’s Hawthorn Campus where Joel Boojers and Student Life Clubs & Sports Officer Regan Longfield gave the team their matching playing uniforms.

Emily Gittins accepts her 2019 Indigenous Nationals uniform

Regan (left) and Joel (middle) present Emily Griffin with her 2019 Indigenous Nationals uniform

The 2019 team uniforms (shirts, shorts, singlets, and skirts for the four respective sports) featured the new Moondani Toombadool Centre logo that Pathways and Vocational Education (PAVE) student Rachel Lloyd-Owens designed.

The Indigenous Nationals have come a long way since kicking off in 1996 as the National Indigenous Tertiary Education Student Games. The games were a joint class project by 13 students from the Diploma of Aboriginal Studies (Community Recreation) at the then Wollotuka School of Aboriginal Studies at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales. The renamed Wollotuka Institute will host the 2020 Indigenous Nationals.

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