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UWA Staff Sports Fun Day is coming up on 6 November and the School of Indigenous Studies’ (SIS) netball team can’t wait.

The reigning UWA staff netball champs are looking forward to a defending their title.

“Last year we may have drawn with someone, but, yeah, we’re otherwise undefeated,” laughs Brendon DeGois, student services officer and one of a group of SIS staff members who form the core of the School’s netball team.

“But the competition’s getting harder and we’re not getting younger!” he added.

Brendon has worked at UWA for 15 years, but his journey with us actually started all the way back in 1993, when he began studying sports science at UWA as an undergraduate. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree, with a major in exercise and health.

“That’s why I’m always picked to organise Sports Day,” he said, laughing.

As a student services officer, Brendon does his best to make sure SIS is a “home away from home” for students.

“My day-to-day is pretty ad-lib, I guess,” he said. “I always try to be available whenever a student needs help.”

But a big part of Brendon’s job involves SIS’ outreach program, a key component of Aspire UWA, the University's program to encourage students from low socio-economic, Indigenous and regional backgrounds to access the lifelong benefits of higher education.

“We run a couple of camps a year. We also run on campus visits, where we get indigenous high school kids to come to the university,” he said. “We talk to them about different scholarships, entry processes, accommodation, do activities with them and take them for a tour around campus.”

“About 60-70% of our indigenous students who enrol at UWA come from that program. So I guess you could say it’s successful,” he laughed.

The most rewarding thing about Brendon’s job is seeing the kids’ transition from high school to UWA, then graduating and then working as professionals.

It’s a sentiment shared by Marilyn Strother, the Director of Student Services in SIS, and Brendon’s teammate on the netball team.

“Seeing indigenous students come through our program from Year 8, to graduate from UWA with professional degrees is the most rewarding thing,” she said. “Sometimes they come to us even earlier. This year we have two students whose mums were students here when they were born. They’ve come back to us through our enabling program and are now studying with us as well.”

Marilyn added that she was looking forward to playing netball against the portfolios and other faculties.

“I used to play netball in my younger days and it gives me an opportunity to have a throw around again,” she said.

“It’s a bit fun, but our team is quite competitive,” she laughed. “We have white line fever a bit.”

Brendon added, “Watch out for Marilyn! Even though she’s one of the shortest ones out there, she’s our killer shooter!”

Registrations for UWA Staff Sports Fun Day close next Wednesday, 28 October. For more information, please visit the UWA Staff Sports Fun Day website .