Stories of Indigenous Success in Australian Sport

Journeys to the AFL and NRL

This book presents journeys of sixteen Indigenous Australian athletes from their first touch of a

‘footy’ to the highest levels of Australian football and rugby league, conceptualized as a process

of learning. The authors challenge simplistic explanations of Indigenous success in Australian

football and rugby league, centered on the notion of the ‘natural athlete’. The book traces

the development of Indigenous sporting expertise as a lifelong process of learning situated in

local culture and shaped by the challenges of transitioning into professional sport. Individually,

the life stories told by the participants provide fascinating insights into experience, culture

and learning. Collectively, they provide deep understanding of the powerful influence that

Aboriginal culture exerted on the participants’ journeys to the top of their sports while locating

individual experience and agency within larger economic, cultural and social considerations.

Stories of Indigenous Success in Australian Sport will be of interest to students and scholars

across a range of disciplines including Indigenous studies, physical education, education, sport

management and sociology