On Thursday the 29th of May, SEDA College SA AFL students competed in the Sir Doug Nicholls Round Curtain Raiser as part of the Reconciliation Cup against Tjindu Foundation at Adelaide Oval. The annual Sir Doug Nicholls Round is celebrated during Rounds 10 and 11 of the 2023 AFL Premiership Season. The Reconciliation Cup is the opportunity to celebrate, acknowledge and thank Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander player, volunteers, administrators, umpires, and fans, past and present for their contributions to our game and the football community. As a collective we were all extremely grateful for this opportunity and excited to be a part of something so special.
Arriving at 1:30pm, all participants from both SEDA and Tjindu were invited into the oval and given a shared locker room to prepare for the game. Walking through the tunnels and changerooms of the oval, students felt extremely professional and were raring to get on the field. Once everyone was suited up and ready to go, all footballers were welcomed onto the field where two smaller ovals had been made. One for the girls and one for the boys.
At 2:00pm, families and friends were welcomed into the oval as both SEDA and Tjindu teams were warming up. Tip – off was at 2:15pm and was set off with the big siren used for the actual AFL game. When spectating a game of football, the size of the oval and how many seats there are in the stands is quite deceiving. This was a common conversation had between teams about how professional the game feels when played on an oval like this.
The games were two twelve-minute halves with eight girls and boys on each team. Each team was given two wristbands for two players to wear. These wristbands signified that these were the scorers of each team. Both SEDA and Tjindu agreed that trying to get the ball to someone with a wristband was difficult but was a fun way to get everyone on the field involved in the game.
At the end of the games, a presentation was held to announce the winners of both matches. The winner was decided by the combined score of both the girls and boy’s game. With the final highest score, the Tjindu Foundation were the overall champions of the day’s matches.
To conclude, the day was an absolute amazing experience for all. Walking through the tunnels and seeing what its like to play on a professional oval was something not many people get to experience. Especially once you get to watch the AFL game being played afterwards. All students were extremely thankful the opportunity they were given and had a lot of fun playing the game they love.
Written By Bella Schaftenaar