Australian First Nations

 

Full Squad
vs. Wollongong Wolves (0:2) | Friendly Match | 2019 in Wollongong

 

There have been various efforts in the past to bring together an indigenous Australian football national team, but none of them really existed for a longer period of time. Even those with funding from the Australian FA seemed to collapse or just be one-off teams that played an exhibition once. They all looked far more like a political gesture than an actual team with a community behind it.

That did change when Bernie McLeod started the "Mariya", which translates to Emus, aronnd 2016. It is definitely a political statement to field an Australian First Nations team. But much more than this it is a true community-driven project that is predominantly aimed at developing young players into national team players in future. That said, the main event of the Mariya has always been the "Clash of Cultures", in which the Australian First Nations field several youth teams and adult male and female teams to face Maori opposition from Aotearoa New Zealand. A great event that was organised in 2018 and 2019, before COVID prevented a third edition, unfortunately.

Now, let us speak about this absolute beast of a shirt. Frankly, it is one of my favourite shirts, really! Plus, knowing Bernie and his team a bit, I was more than happy to support the team by buying it. It is made by Sinalli, an Australian company that also does sponsor the National Indigenous Football Championship, a tournament played out between a number of Indigenous Australian teams and full of beautiful shirts, too!

Naturally, Sinalli made the Mariya, the emu, the main feature on this shirt. But there is more to it. It is full of traditional Aboriginal patterns and was co-designed by an Aboriginal artist close to the team. It was only used in a single match vs. Wollongong Wolves, but at least it was used! I am over the moon with it and even happier that I got it for somewhere around 30€.