The Australian Institute of Sport has named new ambassadors to its cultural training program, which is aimed at improving cultural competency in sport.
Ambassadors for the Share a Yarn program have been chosen from a pool of Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Game athletes from Indigenous and non-Indigenous backgrounds .
Ambassador Janice Blackman, a Gubbi Gubbi and Butchulla woman, said her experiences with the Australian women's softball team - The Aussie Spirit - had inspired her to take part in the program.
"I never realised how interested they really were and that's not a bad thing in any way, I'm more of an introverted person in the team, I'm usually sticking to myself... and I like it like that [but] being able to share with the girls, they got to see a different side of me, and I got to see a different side of the girls - it was a beautiful moment," she said.
he Australian women's national softball team, The Aussie Spirit, walk on country. Source: Supplied
"Being acknowledged around the reason why I play for Australia and the motivation and the strength behind why I play for Australia and the way I play, how I train - it all comes back to our mob and the way we were raised and our history being able to educate people would be amazing."
The Share a Yarn program is an initiative aiming to strengthen relationships between First Nations peoples and non-Indigenous peoples.
The Australian women's national softball team; The Aussie Spirit wearing their Indigenous-designed training jerseys. Source: Supplied
Fourteen first Nations and non-Indigenous athletes across 11 different sports have been selected as ambassadors for this year’s Share a Yarn Program.
Among them are football star Kyah Simon, from Anaiwan and Biripi heritage, the first Indigenous Australian to score at a FIFA World Cup, Paralympian athletics medal-winner Brad Scot and Mariah Williams, an Australian field hockey Olympian.
Ms Blackman says she hopes to educate and inspire other Australians.
Kyah Simon has been chosen as one of the ambassadors for the Share a Yarn program. Source: AAP
"This is a massive step forward in sport being able to connect these guys who are playing for Australia and are playing part of any Australian squads to understand where Australia has come from and the history Australia has come through and after they actually learn about that stuff I think it starts to empower people a little bit more."
"The best thing about our mob, when we do share knowledge or when we do actually teach education, we don't talk at people we do it by storytelling or do it by open discussions sitting around having a yarn - the most comfortable way I think you can educate someone and the most comfortable way people can ask questions."
Program organiser, Rihan Bird told SBS News that the program was created in the hope that athletes would take their teachings further into the community.
"It's pretty much aiming to provide Australian elite athletes with really meaningful opportunities to connect with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and build those relationships with the hope that they'll go and we can provide some platforms for them to advocate some of these learnings with the wider Australian community within their own sport."
Now in its second year, the program is open to anyone from professional athletes to school kids.
"By being able to have athlete ambassadors who have an increased knowledge of traditional owners of Australia; their land, their history and their culture, we've immediately got these role models for cultural awareness and inclusivity within sport," Ms Bird said.
