The 2017 Newcrest Mining Limited Western Desert League premiership teams were decided in Parnngurr.

The WDL Festival promised to be hot - both on and off the field - with teams hoping to secure bragging rights for another yearin a fierce battle in both football, softball and Junior basketball competitions.

Commencing on Tuesday 4 July, crowds gathered like Americans on Independence Day and the Grand Finals were played twodays later.

Parnngurr, Warralong and Punmu teams competed for the 2017 football league champion’s trophy, while Parnngurr, Punmu andNullagine competed for the softball champion’s trophy.

The scene was set for a fantastic few days of earnest competition.

Day One of the festival probably had many people pondering about the weather as sprinkles of rain touched down, but thatwasn’t going to stop the very energetic and excited kids playing some 5v5 streetball basketball.

Teams were thrown together and winners stayed on court. With some help from the locals and the police officers, the NgurraKujungka team managed to scrape a couple of wins together to keep their pride in tact.

The first football game was played between home crowd favourites Parnngurr Hawks, and the creative Punmu Bulldogs.

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Newcrest Mining Western Desert Shield 2017 Grand Final at Parnngurr

Rogue camels and good sports delivermemorable 2017 Parnngurr festival

Report by Ngurra Kujungka Indigenous Sport Development Officer Doug Kidgell

Kick for kick, tackle for tackle, it was a hard-fought game, butPunmu broke the game open, running away with a 34-pointwin.

The second game of the day pitted the Warralong Bombersagainst the Parnngurr Hawks. The Warralong Bombers wereclearly physically exhausted, having just arrived in Parnngurrafter participating in a football carnival in Roebourne. Theywent down by 63 points.

With a clear sky and the two local camels out of sight, Day 2was going to be a ‘ripper’.

The atmosphere was electric with people telling stories oftheir incredible performances the previous day and showingoff their match day battle scars. First-up on the agenda wasa juniors footy game, and what a game it was! Marks weretaken, goals kicked and handballs were of pin-pointaccuracy, which made for a great curtain-raiser for the firstgame of the day, between the Punmu Bulldogs and theWarralong Bombers.

Over on the adjacent field, the softball championship wasunderway, thanks to Softball WA star player Mackenzie ??surname?? providing her expert knowledge with the star-studded Parnngurr Hawks playing against the big-hitting PunmuBulldogs.

Punmu made a slow start with a few early strikeouts, while Parnngurr managed to get some early runs on the board, puttingearly pressure on Punmu. At the half-way point, Parnngurr had managed to pull away a little, but, some consecutive home runsfrom Punmu late in the game put Parnngurr under pressure. However, with a calm head from their captain wheeling the bat anddirecting plays, Parnngurr managed to hold out Punmu and secure their first win for the championship.

A little later, I wondered over to the football oval to see how the men were going. The Punmu Bulldogs easily defeated theWarralong Bombers. “You smell that,” I said to a work colleague. It was that unmistaken smell of beef snags on a slice of breadwith BBQ sauce and onions… what more could someone want for lunch? After a delicious lunch and with a well-satisfiedstomach, I returned to the softball where the Punmu Bulldogs were taking on the Nullagine Dockers.

The Bulldogs got off to a flyer with some big hits and fast running, while Nullagine struggled to find their feet with some poorpitching and dropped catches.

Punmu had a convincing win, which meant Parnngurr and Punmu would meet next day in the Grand Final. The last round-robinfooty game was between the undefeated Punmu Bulldogs and the Parnngurr Hawks.

Minutes into the 2nd quarter some spectators in a section of the ground started running, and so too did the players near them.

The community’s two ‘pet’ camels 2 camels had bolted onto the footy oval, scaring everyone as they began chasing spectatorsand players to all corners of the oval.

Once they had finished running around and attempting to spit at and kick people, they were eventually and carefully usheredinto the closest yard, where they could be contained for the duration of the game. Punmu secured a 40-point victory to remainundefeated.

The Grand Final gamesTo start off Grand Final Day we played a game ofkids’ 4v4 basketball.

In the men’s semi-final, Parnngurr Hawks andWarralong Bombers played to determine whowould challenge Punmu in the Premiership game.

The Hawks won the game comfortably by 20points.

Over on the softball field, Parnngurr won the toss inthe Grand Final game against Punmu and decidedto field first, knowing what early pressure throughstrikeouts and neat fielding could do to Punmu,and their plan worked.

Punmu struggled to clear the bases enabling thehost team Parnngurr to win the 2017 ParnngurrWestern Desert League Softball Champions Trophy.

The sun gleamed off the red dirt and dust in air as the ball was bounced in the men’s Grand Final.

Within minutes, Parnngurr kicked the first goal of the match and the crowd went wild, with car horns beeping. Punmu quicklyreturned fire, kicking the next 2 goals and taking the lead.

Before the ball was returned to the centre umpire, there was a challenge as to the number of Parnngurr players on the field atthe one time. It was agreed between officials that Parnngurr’s score would be adjusted to zero, while Punmu kept their 2 goals.

As the game was played out, Parnngurr’s accuracy let them down. Punmu run out convincing winners by 56 points to take homethe 2017 Parnngurr Western Desert League Football Champions Trophy.

Thank You!Ngurra Kujungka acknowledges and sincerely thanks its sponsors and stakeholders, who make the festival possible.

Newcrest Mining Limited has continuously supported Martu football and sport in the Western Desert for the past 16 years, andwithout that invaluable support from Newcrest, the players wouldn’t have “their” game to play, and the spectators wouldn’t have“their” game to watch.

We also thank Healthway – Making Smoking History, and Danica ??? from P.A.M.S (spell it out!!) for their support throughout thefestival. Having a smoke-free festival promotes the health benefits of playing sport instead of smoking, so let’s work togetherand continue to make smoking history.

Educating the community about healthy eating was made easy with the support from Food Bank and Population Pilbara Healthsupplying, educating and providing healthy food for lunch for the kids and healthy cooking workshops.

Our thanks also go to the Department of Sport and Recreation and Softball WA for their continued support.

Ngurra Kujungka also sincerely thanks Desert Feet for providing each evening’s entertainment; Murphy Williams and theParnngurr community for hosting the festival and the work that went into preparing the grounds and fields; Recreation OfficersDarlene ??? and Alwyn ??? for helping the Ngurra Kujungka staff with all the sports; Todd ??? and the Parnngurr communityschool for supplying the accommodation; Coordinators, Bill ??? and Raelene ??? for their assistance throughout the festival;and Andrew Hull and the police contingent from Jigalong, Marble Bar and Nullagine for their positive and friendly contributionsall week.

Thanks are also extended to theNgurra Kujungka Council members,including Murphy Williams, MiltonChapman, Clifton Girgirba and BruceBooth for their efforts around the footyoval; and the Ngurra Kujungka teamfor all their time and hard workleading up to, during, and after the2017 festival.

Above at right: 2017 WDL Premiers -Parnngurr, and at right, Punmu.

Ngurra Kujungka were busy during the Term 2 School holidays, in the first weekhosting the Western Desert League Festival before leading into delivery of aSchool Holiday Program, with both eventsconducted in the Parnngurr community.

Some 20 children attended the SchoolHoliday Program delivered by NgurraKujungka Indigenous Sport DevelopmentOfficers Nicole Rendell and Doug Kidgelltogether with Parnngurr’s Recreation OfficersDarlene Richards and Alwyn Booth.

The School Holiday Program is proudlysupported by the Criminal PropertyConfiscation Grants Program through theDepartment of the Attorney General;Newcrest Mining Limited; Healthway; and the

Parnngurr hosts Festival and SHPReport by Ngurra Kujungka Indigenous Sport Development Officer Nicole Rendell

A happy band of kids and supporters during the School Holiday Program at Parnngurr.

State Government’s Royalties for Regions Community Chest Fund, administered through the Pilbara Development Commission.

The program provided children with various activities such as sport, art, music and education sessions. Ngurra Kujungka’s staffwere impressed with how well the children worked together as a team, and their ability to quickly learn and apply new skills.

Parnngurr community members were very excited to know that Desert Feet would spend the week in their community deliveringworkshops, a disco and a community concert on the Thursday night. Another special addition to the School Holiday Programwas having Fair Game being present and delivering sport and education sessions throughout the week.

Fair Game use recycled sporting equipment to deliver fitness and education sessions as they aim to help reduce the risk oflifestyle related disease, build social cohesion, and improve mental health and well being.

Each day the holiday program started at 10am. Darlene and Alwyn lead the first session and took the children through a warm-up, which included stretching followed by a game of basketball.

After the session, a healthy morning tea consisting of fruit was served up each day. Then it was Fair Game’s opportunity tospend an hour with the kids. Their sessions consisted of fitness, dodgeball, basketball, hygiene and nutrition. Each of FairGame’s sessions were well received and the three staff members excelled in bringing much positive energy to the program.While these sessions were being delivered Nicole and Doug spent time making healthy lunches for the community.

Each day after lunch it was Desert Feet’s turn to present singing workshops and games for the community, and each night theywould also conduct an activity such as music movies, a disco or a concert.

One of the main highlights of the week was a Thursday afternoon and evening event where Desert Feet took their van out to awater hole about 10kms out of town and turned it into a stage. The kids who participated in the School Holiday Program wereinvited to join and bring their families as well. The Wild Dingos played two sets and then Desert Feet cooked up a big feed onthe fire. It was a perfect way to end the amazing week of Parnngurr’s School Holiday Program.

Ngurra Kujungka sincerely thanks all participants for their contribution to the Parnngurr holiday program. Sincere thanks areextended to Desert Feet and Fair Game staff for their efforts and excellent sessions delivered over the four days.

A visit to a waterhole where Desert Feet turned their van into a stage was a highlight of the week’s activities

Ngurra Kujungka joins NAIDOC celebrationsThe Shire of East Pilbara invited Ngurra Kujungka to their NAIDOC WeekCommunity Concert held on in mid-July in Newman.

The 2017 national NAIDOC theme - Our Languages Matter - emphasised andcelebrated the unique and essential role Indigenous languages play in culturalidentity, linking people to their land and water, and in transmiitting Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander history, spirituality and rites, through story and song.

Ngurra Kujungka was very pleased to be a part of such a great community event andcelebrate NAIDOC week with the Martu people in Newman.

Indigenous Sport Development Officers Nicole Rendell and Doug Kidgell were invitedto conduct a football session before the concert commenced.

More than 100 people were at CapricornOval either listening to the music, havinga go at the climbing wall, or playingfootball.

Nicole and Doug spent the first 30minutes warming up the kids anddelivering some skills sessions.

The kids were then placed into two teams, where they had the opportunity to play afull game on the main oval in front of their families and community. It was a greatexperience, with some 20 kids taking part in the session.

After the football, Nicole and Doug stayed to listen to the concert featuring the WildDingos band. It was also a great opportunity for Ngurra Kujungka’s two IndigenousDevelopment Officers to engage with the community members to continue buildingstrong relationships with Martu people.

Above: Doug leads a group ofyoungsters in some drills. Right: It’s time for a big hug.

Please note the following updated details for the October School Holiday

Program:

Week 1Monday 25th to Friday 29th

September - at Jigalong

Week 2Monday 2nd to Friday 6th

October - at Warralong and also at Nullagine