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For Cydnee Avery, participating in the John Moriarty Football (JMF) showcase represents a unique and thrilling opportunity.
The talented 14-year-old midfielder has recently earned a spot in the Western Sydney Wanderers Girls Academy.
“I’m really excited to compete against different teams and players. I love how competitive football is, and scoring goals is always a thrill,” she shared with SBS News.
When asked about her ultimate aspiration, she replied, “To play for the Matildas or any top-tier teams and potentially take my career overseas.”
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Avery gravitated toward football as a young child, following in the footsteps of her older sisters but also using the sport as a space of tranquillity.
“When she was five years old, we actually found out that she had 98 per cent hearing loss, mainly in the right ear,” her mother Jess Avery told SBS News.
“She taught herself how to lip-read … the struggle there is obviously when a coach is getting you to do a certain drill, they have to be facing you to kind of pick up what they’re saying.
“She picked it up just by watching footwork [and] she still does it to this day.”
Avery has since had surgery, but her mother says this early challenge gave her a profound sense of determination.
“She does have a lot of natural talent, but I find that dedication as well, and the way she trains and how many hours a week she puts in, that plays a big part as well.”
Increasing representation
This weekend, Avery will join a cohort of 26 promising young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander footballers from across the country for a first-of-its-kind exhibition match in Sydney. Members of the professional football community will also be there.
The showcase is hosted by the John Moriarty Foundation — named after the first Aboriginal footballer to be selected for Australia.
“This is so much more than just a one-off game or a one-off event — it’s really a sustainable kind of legacy piece,” JMF program manager Jen Wicks told SBS News.
“I think that for me speaks back to John, and when I think of the first Aboriginal player to be selected for Australia, that was an opportunity that changed his life … how can we afford an opportunity that may do the same for another young person, generations on?”
Wicks was part of the selection process for the showcase and is one of the few female UEFA A Licence holders – an advanced football coaching qualification — in Australia.
Speaking to the creation of the talent showcase, Wicks said it was inspired by the upcoming FIFA World Cup and aims to increase representation in the professional game.
One of the things that really spoke to us about the World Cup was that it’s essentially the world’s biggest talent showcase,” Wicks said.
“There actually hasn’t been anything like that in Australia for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people.
“[The aim is to] give a platform to the young people who are so talented, but quite often are from areas and in situations where they may not have the opportunities to show that talent.”
Also among those making the trip to Sydney are Ceon Dempsey and Nequarn ‘Pascoe’ Binjari from Mornington Island in far north-west Queensland.
Both 15-years-old, the pair play on the left and right wing respectively and are inspired by legends of the game.
“Watching [Brazilian great] Neymar on videos is what got me into soccer, ” Pascoe said.
Wicks said Ceon and Pascoe are self-taught from YouTube.
“They actually haven’t played in a structured game but have accrued an incredible skill-set over hours and hours and hours of practice, with the bare minimum of equipment — actually very often no footwear,” she said.
In preparation for the showcase, they pulled on football boots for the first time.
“The soccer player that inspired me to play is Ronaldo,” Ceon said.
“The JMF talent showcase has got me excited as it’s one step closer to my dream of being a professional soccer player.”
‘The sky’s the limit’
The cohort is hoping this opportunity could kick-start their careers — and bring their unique skill-sets to the game.
“Kids that are used to looking for dangers, very real, life-threatening dangers that are used to scanning over vast distances — their heads are on a swivel and can see 180 very easily have such an incredible ability already that just doesn’t need to be taught,” Wicks said.
“In the same way that creativity through periods of long periods of play and uninterrupted play and unstructured play, there’s a level of creativity and the desire to be instinctive, skilful and adaptable … I really see that in spades in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players.”
Proud Kanolu and Gangulu woman Allira Toby made her A-league women’s debut at 19 years old and is now helping to pave the way for the next generation.
“The purpose of us doing this is to essentially have representation and to have opportunities,” she told SBS.
“We want more First Nations kids playing in soccer, especially as high as they want — even in grassroots.
“If we can keep growing in that space and provide better role models and just more of them, I think then the sky’s the limit.”
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