IN 2018, the Shoalhaven Tigers wore special jerseys for the first time in their history - with the pink ones raising funds for the Australian Breast Cancer Foundation.
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This year the Tigers will keep the tradition going, be holding an Indigenous round of matches on Saturday, July, 6.
The difference is the Shoalhaven Basketball Association, who has a rich history of Indigenous members including David Bloxsome, Gregory Seymour, James Stewart and Jodie Wellington (nee Wright), is calling for members of the community to help design their jerseys, for the triple header at the Tigers Den - which coincides with the start of NAIDOC week (July 7-14).
"Following the success of the pink day last year, I put the idea to the committee about doing an Indigenous round to coincide with NAIDOC week," Shoalhaven Tigers youth league men's coach Scott Balsar said.
"After seeing how well received the Illawarra Hawks NBL and Canberra Capitals WNBL Indigenous jerseys were, I thought it would be a great way for our association, with a rich history of Indigenous players and staff, to recognise all their proud history in the Shoalhaven.
"Following conversations with our jersey manufacturers Soul Sports and the Shoalhaven City Council, in particular their Aboriginal community development officer Margeret Simoes, we thought it would be a great opportunity for Indigenous people within the community to have input in the design and what their ideas of this community are.
"It's a small step for us to reconcile with what's happened in the past as well as engaging the natural owners of this land, by giving them a connection to basketball - it would be great if it encouraged more Indigenous players to play out sport."
The SBA is encouraging prospective artist to include the following in their designs (which will be placed around the Shoalhaven Tigers name and major sponsors logo);
- natural culture landscape significant to Aboriginal people.
- Nowra is the word for black cockatoo
- Bomaderry takes its name from the Aboriginal word bunbaderra, which means both 'fighting ground' and 'running water
- Culunghutti Mountain - splendid View
Designs should be submitted by post or email and addressed to Scott Balsar - Shoalhaven Basketball Association PO Box 2021 Bomaderry NSW 2541 or emailed to shoalbasket@shoalhaven.net.au
Entries close at 5pm on Monday, May 6, with the winner to be announced the following week via the SBA website.
The winner will be presented with a cheque to the value of $200 at the Indigenous round.
All money raised from the day, which will also see Indigenous polo shirts, hats and replica singlets sold, as well five game balls auctioned off, will go to a number of chosen Aboriginal organisations.
For further enquiries, contact Scott Balsar on 0412 770713 or scott_balsar@hotmail.com