Nova and her daughter, Destiny. Photo supplied.

Nova Peris sat down with NIT to talk about her first coaching experience, making history at the U18s hockey nationals, and a special event coming up at the end of month.
 
You’ve just been to the Northern Territory to coach the under 18s hockey, can you tell us a bit about that?

I was the assistant coach to the Northern Territory under 18s team that participated in the National Under 18s Hockey Championships. We travelled to Launceston in Tasmania for 12 days last month, which was amazing and it was so good for me to be back in the sport of hockey. There were two pools, and there were 10 teams overall.

We finished second in our pool … then we crossed over to play against Queensland who were the leaders in Pool A. Unfortunately, we lost against a very, very strong, Queensland, but we weren’t without our chances, and then we ended up playing Western Australia, who was second in Pool A. We drew one-all with them but then it went into the penalty shootout where we won three-one. It was a historical day for Northern Territory hockey because never in hockey history have any women’s team finished higher than fifth at a national championship. We finished third out of the 10 teams that went down to the national championship, so it was absolutely phenomenal to be part of history in the making and also to be the assistant coach.

The NT U18s team with their rose gold medals. Photo supplied.

And your daughter, Destiny, was on the NT team as well?

Yeah, so that was one of the main reasons why I also put my hand up to be coach. What had happened was when they announced the NT team Destiny rang me and said, ‘Mum we can’t go away because we don’t have a manager or an assistant coach’. I said, ‘You ring them back up and you tell them that I’ll put my hand up for the assistant coach position’. And so that was it. I spent almost two and a half months coaching the girls up here in the Northern Territory and we got to the national championships two days before nationals had started. We had nine Northern Territory girls and Destiny, my daughter, and we had eight Queensland imports. And one of the Queensland imports that we had was also a young Aboriginal girl — extremely talented. We had two Aboriginal girls play under my coaching and it was awesome.

Because all of our girls were so spread out through Australia, we only got to train once together as a team, which was a practice match against South Australia, in the lead up to the nationals. For us to be able to merge together so well and gel as a team … credit to the girls. I always felt that if I’m given an opportunity where I’ve got kids who are willing to listen, they’re willing to learn, and if they’ve got talent, I’ll be able to pass on the things that I’ve learnt over the years. It was just absolutely such a beautiful feeling as a coach to see the girls perform so well. From the instructions that I’d given them, they were able to pull it off and you know the rest is history now. It was amazing. You know, I think that’s half the battle, there’s so much talent out there but you have to be willing to learn and listen. That’s part of life’s journey, that’s how you grow as a person, that’s how you can grow as an athlete or a team person, you’ve got to be willing to accept all the advice.

How was it being able to coach and pass on your knowledge?

I won an Olympic gold medal, a World Cup gold medal and two champions trophies gold medals, but I’ve never been able to share my lived experiences and share my journey ever before because I went straight from hockey into athletics. For me to be part of history and to be part of that winning team where we won a rose gold — that’s the new definition of a bronze medal now — rose gold. My rose gold medal is sitting on my mantlepiece here at home and I love it. It means a lot to me because I was able to guide these young girls to a place that they will never ever forget.
 
Why is it important for young people, particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, to be engaged in sport and especially team sports?

Sports can teach us so much in life. To be a sportsperson, number one, you’ve got to be dedicated, you’ve got to be committed and you’ve got to be willing to make sacrifices if you want to reach the top of your game in whatever it may be. And secondly, I feel that in team sport you can make friends for life because you go through a process together. You go through your highs, you go through your lows, you’ve got to be able to bounce back and encourage each other. Playing sports is so healthy and you can take a lot of those things from sports and apply it to everyday life. That’s what I was able to do with my hockey, all the life lessons I learned, I built that into my successful athletics career and then into my political area and now into my post political area, and starting up my own foundation. The principles of being committed and setting yourself goals and being dedicated and having a ‘never say die’ attitude, these are important things. That’s the thing with sports, it enables you to set good principles in life. To be able to play the national championships, it’s a privilege to be able to represent your state and you not only represent the state, you represent your family, your friends and your community.

What are your plans for the coming weeks, you have your foundation launch coming up?

Off the back of winning a bronze medal or rose gold at the national championships, that was another first for the Northern Territory, it was another first for me as well, being an assistant coach of that team. On the 27th of May I’m really looking forward to a special event that’s going to happen at Federation Square in Melbourne and that’s going to be the unveiling of my 2.2 metre bronze statue. It was done by Gillie and Marc, their project is called ‘Statues for Equality’ and it’s about getting more female statues out there. It’s about uplifting more women in society, which is important.

And also it’s a statue of a Black woman … you know there’s a saying ‘you can’t be what you can’t see’. I hope that my statue unveiling can not only inspire all Australians but most significantly inspire Aboriginal people that the world is their oyster and my journey can be a beacon of light to say, if I’m talented enough and I’m willing to make all the sacrifices, be committed, have the dedication, I can perhaps one day be an Olympian, or reach the highest in whatever it is that I choose to set my sights on.

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Australian netball great Sharelle McMahon has hailed her immortalisation in bronze in the heart of Melbourne’s sporting precinct as important recognition for female athletes.

McMahon will be the fifth female athlete to have a statue erected in Victoria, joining Olympians Betty Cuthbert, Shirley Strickland and Nova Peris, and AFLW player Tayla Harris.

At the same time, there are 29 existing statues of male athletes in the state, as well as three of racehorses.

McMahon’s statue is to be erected under the Victorian government’s Celebrating Female Sporting Icons initiative and the Statues for Equality project – a global movement working to balance gender and racial representation in public statues.

“It’s a hugely important thing for female athletes to be recognised in many different ways and this is a great way to do it,” McMahon said. “I was really shocked when I heard the numbers and what that lack of balance was between the genders.

“Having a statue that’s a really permanent visualisation of [recognition for female athletes] is something that many people can look up to and appreciate and love for many years to come hopefully.”

McMahon’s decorated career spanned 15 years, including two Commonwealth Games gold medals and two World Cup championships. A 12-time captain of Australia, she played more than 200 national league games for six premierships with the Melbourne Vixens and predecessor club Melbourne Phoenix.

McMahon was also the first athlete from a team sport to carry the Australian flag at a Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, at Delhi 2010. The Sport Australia Hall of Fame member now works as Cricket Victoria’s head of female cricket.

McMahon’s statue will be erected outside John Cain Arena, facing Olympic Boulevard. “This stadium for me holds so many amazing memories,” she said. “For fans to be walking past a statue of me is still a bit unbelievable.

“I think what I’d like them to say is that I was a really proud Victorian and I represented my club with immense passion, and my country with immense passion, and that I was fun to watch play.

“I do believe it’s about more than just me as an individual and a representation of me. It’s a representation of our sport and a celebration of our sport and the amazing people that have had such a great influence in many different ways.”

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Did you know that 90 percent of public statues are of men? That statement alone makes this week’s sculpture installation in the heart of the Elmwood village even more interesting. 

On Tuesday, City of Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, the Buffalo Arts Commission and Nila Griffis, executive director of the Ashford Hollow Foundation welcomed a beautiful 10 foot tall statue of Janet Mock – who is a writer, producer, television host and transgender rights activist. Mock’s statue, created by internationally known artists Gillie and Marc Schattner, will reside at the corner of Bidwell Parkway and Elmwood for the next month or so. 

This is part of a global movement to balance gender and racial representation in public art and create tangible change one statue at a time. The Janet Mock statue is one of four tall bronze statues of inspirational women donated to Griffis Sculpture Park by the Schattners. The park received statues of Olympic athlete Gabby Douglas, astronaut, Tracy Dyson and author, Cheryl Strayed. The unifying mission of the artwork is to fill the world with inspiring public art that spreads messages of love, equality, conservation and hope.

The Douglas, Dyson and Strayed sculptures will be installed at Griffis Sculpture Park in mid-June. After residing at Bidwell Park, the Mock sculpture will then be permanently installed at the Essex Arts Center in Buffalo. Acquiring these sculptures are a nice win for Griffis Sculpture Park and Western New York. Gillie and Marc have been called “the most successful and prolific creators of public art in New York’s History” by the New York Times. Creating some of the world’s most innovative public sculptures, Gillie and Marc have re-defined what public art should be, spreading messages of love, equality, and conservation around the world. Their highly coveted sculptures and paintings can be seen in art galleries and public sites in over 250 cities. 

Image: Mayor Byron Brown, Buffalo Arts Commission Chair Catherine Gillespie and Griffis Sculpture Park Executive Director Nila Griffis review the Janet Mock sculpture.  

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A new bronze statue was unveiled in Naarm/Melbourne’s Federation Square on Thursday honouring Nova Peris, the first Aboriginal Australian to win a gold medal in the Olympics.

Peris was just 25-years-old when she competed as a member of the Australian Olympic Hockey team at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. After the team won the gold, Peris switched to athletics and later won the 200m and 4x100m gold medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. When the Olympics came to Sydney in 2000, Peris reached the semi-finals of the 400m and was part of Australia’s 4x400m relay team, which placed fifth overall. 

The statue depicts Peris mid-run, sporting her 2000 Olympics track uniform. It’s set on a base covered in totems important to Peris: a black-headed python representing her Kimberley roots, and three bush hibiscuses to honour her relatives from the Stolen Generations.

“It’s not just a statue. It represents Black excellency. It represents any kid out there who dares to dream big,” Peris said at the unveiling.

“You’ve got to have your dreams, you’ve got to have your aspirations in life and anything can happen if you believe in yourself and you’re willing to put in the hard yard.”

“So many people told me that I can’t do it. I’m living proof that you can do it.”

This year, 16 Indigenous Australian athletes will head to Tokyo for the Olympics — the most in Australian Olympics team history. Though Australians have competed in the Olympics since 1896, Indigenous athletes were not selected for the Olympics until 1964.

“It’s been phenomenal just to think that Ash Barty won on the weekend, Patty Mills was selected as our flag bearer for the weekend, the Olympic Games start next week, and I’ve got a younger cousin going to the Olympics,” Peris said.

“We’re encouraging people to take photos and hashtag and tag me in it.”

The statue was designed by Australian sculptors Gillie and Marc, as part of their Statues for Equality movement; an initiative to diversify public art in order to further gender and racial equality.

“Nova Peris is a proud Indigenous woman who has broken through many glass ceilings in both politics and sports,” Gillie said in a prerecorded video shown at the unveiling.

“I am proud to be a female artist and to use my talent to support other women.”

After achieving sporting greatness, Peris became Australia’s first Indigenous woman elected to Federal Parliament in 2013. As a Senator representing the Northern Territory for Labor, Peris worked on Reconciliation and advocated for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

Gillie and Marc worked with Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Warung descendant and artist Jandamarra Cadd to create the statue’s unique base. After a stint in Federation Square, the statue will move to Darwin where Peris grew up in a housing commission called the Kurringal Flats.

“This is for all the mob,” said Peris.

“This is for all the Aboriginal children out there who are so super talented. I want them to see Black excellence because there’s not enough of us out there and there’s a saying that you can’t be what you can’t see.

“There’s a lot of statues out there of the colonisers and we can’t relate to those. This we can relate to.”

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