Students from Playford International College have been busy showcasing their
creative skills, after a group of eight Aboriginal students took to the challenge of
developing two trophies to be presented to the women’s and men’s winners of the
2023 City of Playford Tennis International.
This will be the fourth time that Playford International College has been involved with
the trophies for the international event, taking the next step from painting the
winner’s shield to creating the trophies from scratch for the first time in 2023. The
students involved in this year’s trophy making range from years 7 -11.
As part of the project, students have followed traditional Aboriginal methods of
woodworking, with classmates sourcing native timber from the trees on the school
grounds.
Year 7 student, Duane said that he started the project to stay better connected with
his heritage.
“We are building these (trophies) from scratch. We went to the back of the oval and
spent about 40 minutes carving it out of the tree,” he said.
Duane and year 9 student, Josiah are working on a beautifully crafted Kaurna shield
which will be awarded to the winner of the men’s competition.
Josiah runs his hand across the pencilled-traced pattern saying that he plans to
wood burn it onto the shield.
“We have included a tennis ball in the centre to represent the sport. The lines moving
towards the middle are rivers coming into the meeting place,” said Josiah.
