By Kath Gannaway
Eight Worawa Aboriginal College students will be taking centre stage, under lights, at the MCG on Saturday, 2 June, as part of the ‘Dreamtime at ‘The ‘G’ between Essendon and Richmond.
The game is part of the AFL’s Indigenous Round which started in 2005.
The girls will umpire the half-time Auskick game before what is expected to be a record Dreamtime crowd.
The game draws one of the highest attendances of the home-and-away season, with an average crowd of over 70,000 since its inception and a record attendance of 85,656 last year.
The girls are six weeks into an umpiring course with the AFL Academy which Worawa has been part of for the past four years.
The girls will have full control of the Auskick games around the boundary, on the field and in the goals and there was a mix of confidence, excitement and a touch of nervous anticipation as the girls prepared for their rare opportunity to umpire at ‘The ‘G’.
Worawa will also be represented in the main game with the umpire’s shirts featuring a design by former Worawa students, Zephie Neil and Mariana Gurrawiwi.
Mariana designed the front of the shirt which represents land and Aboriginal culture and Zephie designed the back depicting water and the Torres Strait islander communities.
The Sir Doug Nicholls round between Melbourne and Adelaide kicked off in Alice Springs last week and continues into this current round 11, coinciding with National Reconciliation week.
