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Tuesday, 30 September 2014

Two UWA teams have swept the annual National Indigenous Tertiary Education Student Games for the second year in a row, taking out first and third places.

The Western Waagyls 1 scored a total of 83 points in the event, with the University of Melbourne placing second with  77 points, and the Western Waagyls 2 placing third with 75 points.

A record number of Indigenous students from universities all over Australia converged on UWA for the Games .

Twenty four teams made up of 350 athletes from 21 universities competed in mixed sports - netball, basketball, volleyball and touch football as well as a traditional Noongar game, Fly.  The Fly competition, where athletes negotiate a series of sticks laid out on the ground, was a highlight of the week, with UWA's Jade Lampton named female winner.

This year's UWA team, with 27 members, was so big it had to be split into two - the Western Waagyls 1 and Western Waagyls 2, both named after the snakelike Dreamtime creature.

The Games, begun in 1996 as the class project of 13 Aboriginal Studies students at the University of Newcastle, are a unique opportunity for Indigenous students to participate and compete at a national level.  Just 30 students competed in the first Games, with the growth to this year's record numbers a sign of the growing participation of Indigenous Australians in tertiary education.

UWA School of Indigenous Studies Deputy Dean Darlene Oxenham said the Games fostered an atmosphere of inclusion and personal growth.

"With these Games amongst the largest in its history, this is a strong sign that more Indigenous Australians are pursuing tertiary education, evidenced by several universities attending the Games for the first time," Professor Oxenham said.

"Competitors come from all areas of study, but the common bond of culture and sport demonstrates the importance of developing students both within and outside of the academic environment."

The Western Waagyls have been involved in the event for 12 years, winning the championship seven times and making runner-up five times.

Individual winning Waagyls were: Jade Dolman, named Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the women's volleyball; Jeffrey Fong, MVP in men's netball and Jalla Alley, MVP  in women's basketball.

Although this year's Games are over, the competition wasn't done for three Western Waagyls, who flew out almost immediately to compete at another national competition, the Australian University Games (AUG).

Synarah Murphy, originally from Port Hedland, Ronald Bin Swani, originally from Broome, and Torey Rickerby, originally from Derby, competed in AFL and touch rugby events at the AUG in Sydney.

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