Parkes pride on show at Nations of Origin

Six Parkes Nations of Origin teams have spent this week competing in the annual Nations of Origin tournament in western Sydney across three sports.

The competition is a community-driven four-day tournament hosted by PCYC NSW, that brings together young people from across the state to represent their local Aboriginal Nations in sports such as rugby league, netball, basketball, and gymnastics.

In total there will be 55 teams from PCYCs across the state taking part.

Parkes has an under 16s boys basketball team, two under 16s boys and one under 16s girls rugby league teams and two gymnastics teams which incorporates ages from 10 to 17.

The Parkes teams are a combination of athletes from Parkes, Forbes, Peak Hill and Condobolin.

They've all been sporting a new design on their uniforms this year after Parkes PCYC held a competition earlier in the year calling for someone to design their jerseys. The winning design, awarded to Kyah Turnbull, now appears on all sport uniforms.

The tournament began on Monday and is due to finish today with Hawkesbury PCYC in South Windsor running the basketball, mixed netball fast 5’s and gymnastics competitions, and Whalan Reserve hosting the under 16s male and female rugby league matches.

Thanks to sponsorship and fundraising, all costs for the players to take part in the tournament are covered.

"We reduce all those financial barriers through fundraising, sponsorship and grants so we can hold a program like this and be able to provide the children with a full kit," Parkes PCYC manager Kimberley Sherrett said.

"So it's an equal experience for all.

"The only thing they have to do is sell 20-30 raffle tickets as their contribution.

"But it's not just about fundraising, it's also getting the word out on what it's all about, promoting their experience in the program."

The Nations of Origin and NAIDOC community event at Cheney Oval last Wednesday featured cultural dance performances. PHOTO: Parkes PCYC

The Buerckner family from Parkes were having a great day out at the NAIDOC community event at Cheney Oval - Jack, three-year-old Lenny, Sonia (from Condobolin), four-year-old Maggie and Steph. PHOTOS: Christine Little

Sandra and Ken Schmidt and Luke Clarke from Parkes enjoyed watching the rugby league action at the event at Cheney Oval.

Tyson (8) and Seth (10) Sense, Frankie Clarke (8), Kendall Hartwig (9) and Stephanie Russell (10) kicked the footy around at the community celebrations.

Ten-year-old Ryda Hando and 12-year-old Edward Robinson from Parkes took-in the footy action on the day.

Kyah Turnbull had an art stand at the event, she's here with Tasha Turnbull and her three children Harper (6), Harlow (9) and Seth (16) Wilson.

A jumping castle never fails to entertain the kids for hours.

Ahead of the tournament Parkes PCYC hosted a Nations of Origin and NAIDOC community event at Cheney Oval last Wednesday 8 July to celebrate NAIDOC Week and recognise the incredible young people participating in this year's Nations of Origin Program.

From 10am-3pm participants showcased their talent with trial football matches held in a sevens round-robin format, featuring under 16s male and female teams from Parkes, Orange and Cowra.

Parkes gymnastics also performed on the day, as crowds indulged in a free barbecue lunch, cultural food tastings, cultural gelato flavours and community stalls and activities.

There were also cultural dance performances, face painting and airbrush tattoos and a jumping castle.

Kimberley was thrilled with the day's turnout.

"It's great, we've had a really good day," she said at the event.

As Kimberley watched the final rugby league matches of the day, she said all the players were trialling what they had learnt at training, putting it into play for the following week's Nations of Origin.