TJINDU: Kicking goals
Tjindu Aboriginal ALF Academy student Hamish Collins on the footy field.
The Tjindu AFL Academy has supported hundreds of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to reach their potential. Here’s how.
Words: Jeremy Rochow
“Graduation is the most heartwarming part of the program,” Tjindu Foundation General Manager Kellie Graves says. “It’s very wholesome and we want [the students] to finish school because realistically we’re a statistic, so we want to be on the positive side.”
The Tjindu Foundation is a South Australian not-for-profit Aboriginal community-controlled organisation that delivers community-based cultural education activities for Aboriginal students. The foundation aims to help young Aboriginal people develop skills and shine brightly as future leaders.
The Tjindu Aboriginal AFL Academy uses footy as a vehicle to provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander senior school students with a cultural and curriculum-based program. Students develop their leadership skills, prepare for joining the workforce and learn about health and wellbeing and setting goals.
Tjindu graduates include Crows footballers Izak Rankine and Wayne Milera and Geelong player Brandan Parfitt.
Ngarrindjeri and Narungga woman Kellie says that while there is a focus on football, the AFL Academy aims to help students complete their secondary education and provide alternative pathways once they finish school.
“We’ve had 11 kids drafted into the AFL,” Kellie says. “We’d love to have some females drafted now but we say that’s the one per cent.
“What we’re working towards is post-school transition, so a lot of what we do in the program, outside of education and football, is have people in front of the students talking about life skills or employment opportunities.”
More than 200 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students applied for the program in 2024, with 70 accepted. The AFL Academy replaces a subject at school and the students spend a day a week at Tjindu’s headquarters in Port Adelaide.
There they complete units in either Aboriginal Studies or Integrated Learning as part of their SACE (South Australian Certificate of Education).
Sacred Heart student Jordan Horne (Kokatha) was accepted into the Tjindu AFL Academy in 2023.
The Glenelg SANFLW footballer says Tjindu has given her the opportunity to learn about her culture and bond with other like-minded people.
“The two main things for me were football and learning about my culture,” Jordan says.
Tjindu Aboriginal ALF Academy student Jordan Horne on the footy field.
Hamish studying at Tjindu in Port Adelaide.
Jordan (far left) painting with fellow students.
“I can see key takeaways my older cousin got from [Tjindu AFL Academy] and that’s obviously something I wanted to learn about.
“Also, the football aspect of it along with education – it’s something we can bond over.”
As part of the Academy, the students attend camps where they bond, learn and spend time together. In 2023, students visited Melbourne during the AFL’s Sir Douglas Nicholls Round. They played football against St Kilda Next Generation Academy and attended the ‘Dreamtime at the G’ match between Essendon and Richmond.
“We attended the Brothers and Sisters Dinner with lots of Indigenous football players,” Jordan says. “We were taking photos and getting to know them; it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
Year 11 Ocean View College student and North Adelaide footballer Hamish Collins (Arrente and Mutitjulu) moved from Alice Springs last year to join the Tjindu AFL Academy.
“I signed up for [the academy], moved back down to Adelaide and got accepted into Tjindu, which was pretty sick,” he says.
“I heard it was a really good program for footy and culture, and I was excited.”
The camp in Melbourne gave Hamish the opportunity to get to know his fellow classmates better.
“I think during the Melbourne camp I started getting closer to people,” Hamish says. “We also got Long Walk jumpers and then did the walk behind Michael Long (191-game AFL player), held the banner behind him and went on the MCG.”
Kellie says the camps have a range of benefits for both students and staff. The camps allow the Tjindu leadership team to establish group norms and team values with the students, who are expected to attend at least 80 per cent of their classes if they want to go on the camps.
“That goes a long way for being able to have conversations later on in the program, whether it’s about academics or employment or football or life stuff – I really love that,” Kellie says.
“There aren’t really many opportunities where you bring together this many Aboriginal people in one group for such a long time, immersing in our culture and one another.
“So, there’s a real thing with our mob about connectedness; one of the first questions you might have when you’re meeting someone is ‘who’s your mob?’ because you’re trying to make that connection to see how you know each other.
“That connection is really crucial to our culture.”
IMAGES: Jordan Bianchini Media; RAA/Thomas Aldahn.
