As part of a partnership with Confident Girls Foundation, and in line with First Nations Round, Sunshine Coast Lightning this week hosted a group of young Indigenous students from the local Chancellor State College in a creative painting session.
The Chancellor College First Nations Local Leaders program is a holistic program developed to give students the opportunity to be exposed to the high-performance environment, interact, and connect with players and staff and build confidence through engaging in small group activities which include art, exercise and education.
Joined by Elder, Aunty Kaylene, the students worked together to create two flags that will be displayed at the Guard of Honour for this weeks’ match against the Collingwood Magpies.
Aunty Kaylene said the Confident Girls sessions are so important to the young students who can really put themselves out there and express themselves through art.
“Today we are making two flags — one for the Lightning to keep and one for the school to keep. These sessions are so important as they encourage young girls to feel confident, put themselves out there and have a go — whether they think they can do it or not,” she said.
“The students have great mentors in the Lightning players, and it’s wonderful to really see them connect with each other and come out of their shells.”
The artwork created on both flags was inspired by a number of factors, including the meeting place, Chancellor State College and Sunshine Coast Lightning logos, fireworks and kangaroo tracks.
“The students also included their handprints as your handprint is your signature. It was important for their handprints to go on top of the material, as you wouldn’t put your signature underneath the artwork once it’s created,” Aunty Kaylene said.
“Both the students and players have done a wonderful job creating the flags together.”
The Confident Girls Foundation aims to provide opportunities for disadvantaged girls to thrive through netball. Using netball as a delivery tool, the Foundation assists vulnerable girls and their communities to overcomes gender, social and cultural barriers.
