Kittyhawk Basketball Association ran its second annual basketball carnival, Red Dust 3-on-3, in early December.

The event saw almost 80 basketball participants compete in the 3-on-3 format over a weekend, with seven teams in the mixed junior division and 12 teams in the men’s and women’s open divisions.

“It was another success and we hope to continue the carnival so it becomes a stand-out event for the region’s annual sporting calendar,” says Aaron Tamwoy, Secretary of Kittyhawk Basketball.

BEL supported the event by providing $800 worth of prizes for the winning teams and players.

Meal vouchers for Bamaga Tavern went to the men’s and women’s open players, while BP Bamaga donated some exciting gifts for the juniors; the Under 12s ‘best and fairest’ player won a new bike, while each player from the winning juniors team received earpods.

Mr Tamwoy says the Association is dedicated to engaging all age groups and encouraging NPA residents to maintain a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

“We’re especially excited about our junior players and see this as a stepping stone for them. We were also pleased to have three ladies’ teams travel from Thursday Island to participate and we hope to attract more teams from throughout the wider region in the future.

“BEL’s continued support helps us to achieve these goals for future carnivals,” says Mr Tamwoy.

BEL has sponsored the annual registration fee for 75 NPA kids to join the Bamaga Futsal Club, totalling $750.

“The sponsorship from BEL means that our participants are registered with the State and National Football governing bodies and are covered by injury insurance,” says Eugene Orwell, Secretary of the Torres Strait & Cape York Peninsula Indigenous Futsal Association.

Bamaga Futsal Club has been running the community futsal sessions since March 2021, with 30 to 40 children usually attending.

In April, the association resumed monthly sessions and hopes to form a Futsal Girls Squad at NPA State College.

“There has been an enthusiastic response from the Senior College girls and we hope they can train and participate in regional and state tournaments later in the year,” says Mr Orwell.

BEL is supporting the Club in a number of ways through its Socio Support Policy, which aims to promote good health and fitness in the community. This includes a new monthly outreach program run by Bamaga Futsal Club at the parks in Umagico and Injinoo for kids who are unable to attend the sessions at the Bamaga Junior Campus Hall.

“They are not much different to what we do in Bamaga, and the kids love it,” says Mr Orwell.

To keep up to date with the latest futsal news, follow Bamaga Futsal Club on Facebook.

The Saybaylgaw Yangu Wakay workshop team held a series of language workshops in Bamaga and Seisia for two weeks during May.

Bamaga Enterprises Ltd (BEL) is auspicing the project.

The team, comprising Executive Producer Jeffrey Aniba Waia, producer Andrew Belletty and linguist Jensen Warusam Waigana, along with Bamaga liaison Beverley Jacobs, is continuously working with local communities on this exciting project, which aims to revitalise language speaking with the help of fluent KKY (Saibai language) speakers.

The team is building a website dedicated to learning resources for the KKY language. While in the region, they shot further videos and taught language writing skills.

Mr Belletty says the goal was to create audio and visual materials for everyone to learn KKY.

“During this visit, we ran workshops during the day and evening in Seisia and Bamaga, which meant they were accessible to all groups including workers, students and Elders.

“The turnout was huge with almost 200 participants, which really shows how important maintaining language and culture is to these communities.”

The next workshops in September 2022 will focus on art and digital design.

The team would like to encourage the community to get further involved or provide feedback. Please contact Beverley Jacobs on 0427 736 651.