Emboldened, educated and encouraged; the emerging leaders who attended this year’s NRL Indigenous Youth Summit returned home equipped to be the change they want to see in their communities.
A selection of 68 Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori Year 11 students nominated by their NRL clubs assembled on the Central Coast on Darkinjung land for the four-day intensive camp held last week to participate in a range of workshops that had a focus on sharing culture and cultural experiences, developing leadership and promoting wellbeing.
There were also two Youth Ambassadors named at the conclusion of the summit, selected from by their peers from a group of Top 20 participants, who were nominated by staff and group mentors for going above and beyond during the summit.
Female Ambassador Meerah Sehgal, a proud Yorta Yorta woman representing Melbourne Storm, spoke passionately about respect and advocating for more opportunities for Indigenous people to connect with culture.
“It feels like such an unreal, surreal experience, I feel incredibly grateful and lucky,” Meerah said.
“I learnt so much from every other leader that was there (at the summit) and I am who I am now and what I'm going to do in the future because of everyone there at this camp and what they've all taught me.
“I feel like I've gained so much confidence. I really came out of my shell.”
Male Ambassador Kane Munt, from Mabuyag (Mabuiag) in the Torres Strait and representing Brisbane Broncos, shared his desire to address the issue of Indigenous kids in out of home care, and to also increase their opportunity to forge connection to culture.
“The week was really important; it was good to come out the country, come out and connect with everyone, connect with people that I've never met,” Kane said.
“It feels like we've met before and it just it felt amazing. There was no shame. There was no judgment. Everyone supported each other. They cared for each other.”
Administered by the NRL’s Social Impact team including staff from the School 2 Work program, the participants in the summit were guided by , which was established by former NRL player and Gamilaroi / Dunghutti man Jonathan Wright.
Supported in camp by Gumbaynggirr / Birrpai man Evis Heath the young leaders were also taken out to Country to visit special sites including the heritage-listed Baiame Cave and Finchley Aboriginal Area in Yengo National Park.
The camp concluded with a trip to Newcastle to take in the Knights v Penrith Panthers Indigenous Round clash, where summit participant Yaegan Faulkner performed as part of the pre-game ceremony.
NRL RAP Program and Social Impact Manager Alanah Scholes lauded this year’s summit as a great success and said she was working on a program to further utilise the skills and talents of the participants who were selected in the Top 20.
“We actually are looking at a new kind of leadership group utilising the youth voices as part of a council,” Scholes said.
“It's something we're looking at developing; not just utilising our ambassadors but also the Top 20 kids to bring them together and have them voice concerns around what's happening at a community level and the challenges that they are having in communities, but also provide an opportunity for them to get experience out of that.
“Being able to bring kids in to have experiences in at Rugby League Central headquarters (in Sydney) and spend time with our senior leadership group; spend time with an executive to learn and shadow them.
“I'm working on what that looks like at the moment and bringing them together for virtual yawning circles so they can continue to connect.
“(We want to) keep that light in that fire lit for them and provide opportunities that we can continue to have that impact as well.”
The Top 20 selected from the NRL Indigenous Youth Summit were:
Female:
Carla Salmon
Lilly Cousins
Isla Solomon
Kyarla Pacey
Kirri Stein
Shanae Bloomfield
Meerah Sehgal – Ambassador
Letayah Goldthorpe
Kyeisha Bell
Laura Chang – Top Four
Male:
Kobi Vassllo
Jessey O’Neill
Yaegan Faulkner
Tyrone Ahwong – Top Four
Lincoln Dell
Joseph Sam
Kane Munt – Ambassador
Antonio Multari
David Scholes
Thomas Molle
