Over a week, the event brought teams of Indigenous athletes from universities around Australia to Newcastle to play across three sports: netball, basketball and touch rugby. 

Kulbardi Student Success Advisor Brendon Ah Chee said being able to witness the camaraderie of the team was an “absolute joy”. 

“The connection our students had with each other was made clear by our team taking out the Team Spirit Award, which is based on which team had the best sportsmanship, participation and vibe,” Mr Ah Chee said. 

Kulbardi Engagement and Outreach Coordinator Rebekah Smith said the team built strong connections with each other and backed each other every step of the way but still made time to share plenty of laughs.  

 "Seeing the camaraderie across the WA universities was also really special,” Ms Smith said. 

When Kulbardi made it through to the netball grand final, other WA teams rallied around to show their support. 

“Before every single match throughout the week, we would all circle up as players, put our hands in, and have one of our students shout ‘who’s dardy?’, with everyone else replying ‘Kulbardi’,” Mr Ah Chee said. 

For the netball Grand Final, we were strongly supported by ECU and Curtin University, and we asked if they could join our chant, which they were more than happy to do. It was the loudest chant of the week, and this connection and show of WA strength and support was my personal highlight of the trip. 

Kulbardi took out second place in Netball, receiving their first ever medal in the netball competition, as well as one student receiving an individual award for their sportsmanship, participation and energy. 

“Seeing one of our deadly students win an individual Spirit Award and celebrating our first Indigenous Nationals medal since 2015 was such a proud moment for the team and the rest of the mob at Kulbardi,” Ms Smith said. 

Mr Ah Chee said from the months of training leading up to the games, to the games themselves, the whole experience was a testament to the hard work, passion and dedication of the team.  

“Our team couldn’t have represented Murdoch and Kulbardi any better, and we are so proud of the history-making week they put together.”