Scotch College

A Tiwi experience - Joy, concern and hope

Locals evesdrop on the Scotch game plan!

Being invited to take part as a staff member on this year’s football tour to Darwin and the Tiwi Islands put me in a privileged position. My role would include offering support to a group of talented young footballers. Their ongoing development was a priority, and this tour would provide them with wonderful opportunities to enhance their skills. Yet there was another dimension to this tour that – dare I say it – was even more important than football! Certainly football was the vehicle, but the focus was firmly on relationship building. For many years now, Scotch has been nurturing a relationship with the indigenous community of the Tiwi Islands, and in particular the school attended by most of the young aboriginal people on Bathurst Island.

This being my first trip to the Top End, I was eagerly anticipating the opportunity to experience the sights of the northern capital, to come face to face with a crocodile, and to assist with the group as they prepared for and played football matches on Darwin’s Marrara Oval against quality opposition. However, the highlight promised to be the day trip out to Bathurst Island to meet and mingle with the locals, play a game of footy, take in a tour of the community and enjoy lunch.

The day on Bathurst Island greatly exceeded my expectations. Although I had images in my mind, formed from sources such as the media and colleagues who had been on previous tours, I was overwhelmed by the total experience of the day. On the return flight to Darwin, my mind was a mixture of joy and concern as I pondered what I had observed and experienced during the course of our visit. First impressions of the community as we drove to town from the airport were influenced by the sight of houses in various states of disrepair. Open spaces, where there were once doors and windows, occasionally framed a vacant face staring out towards our battered 4WD as we bumped along the unmade road. The air was thick with humidity and an unfamiliar odour.

These sobering first impressions, however, were quickly overcome by the enthusiastic welcome offered by the island’s school community. Brown faces split by huge grins greeted us warmly as we arrived. Children surrounded us, all trying to shake our hands, shrieking with excitement, eager to have their photo taken; and in some cases, to demonstrate their athletic prowess by performing impromptu twists and tumbles.

Laughter and chatter filled the air as our touring party mingled with the local school community. A competitive game of basketball between the Scotch students and the locals preceded a formal welcome from their principal in the ‘assembly hall’ – a corrugated iron roof without walls!

The football match between the Scotch boys and the Tiwi Turbos, as they dubbed themselves, followed shortly afterwards on the town’s oval. This was a great occasion supported by most of the town’s people. Played in magnificent spirit, the game lived up to its billing as an exhibition of genuine football skill. A close victory to the locals was a fitting result. After a tour of the town including a visit to the local art gallery and a barbecue lunch, it was time to leave. The fun, laughter and smiles of the day had made a lasting, positive impact on all members of the touring party.

Shortly before we left, however, the town’s ‘sporting and recreational club’ was opening as usual for its 4 to 7pm daily session. Older adolescents and young adult males, who had been strangely missing throughout much of the day, were drifting towards the town’s only legal alcohol outlet for another round of binge drinking. This was a sad reminder of the underlying problems faced by this community. Alongside the laughter and fun of the young people and some of the adults with whom we had interacted throughout the day, there runs a current of poverty, boredom, alcohol abuse, family breakdown and health problems – issues that sadly characterise many indigenous communities throughout Australia. So a mixture of joy and concern filled my mind on the return flight to Darwin. What a privilege it had been to participate in this day on Bathurst Island. What wonderful young indigenous people we had met, so full of life and happiness and potential; and yet I could not help but wonder what their future would hold.

I am proud to be a part of a community here at Scotch that is seeking to build a genuine relationship with these young indigenous people and their community. Through this relationship we have the capacity to make a genuine, positive contribution to their future, and also to improve our own appreciation of indigenous culture.

Our approach is not paternalistic in nature; rather the objective is to build common understanding and respect through a sharing of resources and ideas. Aussie rules football provides the link, and our relationship will provide the foundation for an ongoing journey of cooperation and mutual benefit.

Grant Watson
Head of Christian Education Department