The North Sydney Bears would like to dedicate our 2024 Indigenous Round, to be held on Sunday 26th May 2024, to those who resided on this land 6,000 years ago, land that is now North Sydney Oval. To those indigenous men, women, boys and girls who have proudly represented the Red and Black, to our local ancestors the Cammeraygal people and to the land on which we play, on this day we acknowledge them.
There have been many great first grade indigenous players for the Bears including George and John Ambrum, Eric Pitt, Cliff Lyons, Ricky Walford, Noel Solomon, Terry Butler, Gary Edwards, Glen Liddiard and current Knock-On Effect NSW Cup players in Logan Aldridge and Allan Fitzgibbon.
Working closely together with Bush to Bowl, Sinalli and our current proud indigenous players Allan Fitzgibbon and Logan Aldridge, we have created our first ever Indigenous Jersey that will be worn by our Knock-On Effect NSW Cup team in Round 12. Read more below on what each aspect of our jersey means and represents.
The game day is proudly sponsored by Norths Collective and working with Bush to Bowl, a social enterprise aimed at creating a healing space & platform for First Nations people by connecting to Country and their traditional foodways, we invite the wider community to join us at our inaugural Indigenous Round to be held on the 26th May at Bear Park. The day will include indigenous dance groups, smoking ceremony, indigenous coffee van, craft activities and a welcome to country address. A family friendly day that acknowledges our connection to the Cammeraygal people and the land.
The details on what makes our 2024 Indigenous Jersey special:
The whale has a close connection for coastal people up and down the East coast. Its importance is highlighted in the local rock carving located at Balls Head in Waverton and in the oral history of the Cammeraygal coastal people. The circles in the whale represent the different mob connections to the whale.
The lines represent the journey of the whale, as a representation of the players, on a journey and the circle being the places and people they connect to along their journeys.
On the back of the jersey features two hand prints each representing our current indigenous players in Allan Fitzgibbon and Logan Aldridge.
The red, black & ochre dots represent the Cammeraygal land that we train and play on. The Cammeraygal people, were a clan of the Eora tribe who were united by a common language, strong ties of kinship and survived as skilled hunter–fisher–gatherers in family groups or clans
The 2024 jersey has been designed in consultation with local indigenous groups including Bush to Bowl and our own Knock-On Effect NSW Cup players Allan Fitzgibbon and Logan Aldridge. On the back of the jersey features two handprints representing both Fitzgibbon and Aldridge. The handprints are positioned side by side, supportive and guiding of their fellow teammates who will be pulling on the jersey to take on the One NZ Warriors in Round 12.
“I am proud to represent my people and my history in this jersey and on this day. The jersey is a proud acknowledgment of the local Cammeraygal tribe, and I am honoured to represent them and the North Sydney Bears” stated Allan Fitzgibbon, a proud Dunghutti Bundjalong man.
Logan Aldridge, a proud Dunghutti Yuin man, commented “This first Bears Indigenous jersey is meaningful and honours the traditional owners of this land. I am proud to have been represented on the jersey as a North Sydney indigenous player, and I hope this can be repeated every year for the club”.
