The Alice Springs Netball Association is pleased to announce the appointment of a number of new Board members for the 2023 season following the AGM held on Saturday the 4th March. This includes the appointment of Jennifer Nixon as the new ASNA President for 2023 and 2024. Jennifer becomes the first Indigenous woman to lead the ASNA Board since its inception over 50 years ago. She is a proud, local Indigenous woman of Amnatyerr, Alyawarr, and Kaytetye heritage Central Australia.
Jennifer has played netball in Alice Springs from the age of 8 years old, playing A Grade from the age of 13 years, having represented both Alice Springs and the Northern Territory teams from primary school through to 21 and Under. She has represented Australia being selected twice in the Indigenous Australian team as well as coaching the Australian Indigenous netball team competing against Australia U21 and Pacific Island National Teams in Auckland.
Throughout her time representing these teams she has captained both Alice Springs and Northern Territory as well as having played top league netball in Melbourne under former Australian coach Joyce Brown. In addition to her role as a player, Jennifer has also been both a coach of juniors and senior teams and umpire. In her role as an Administrator, she has represented Indigenous netball on the All Australia Netball Committee, held position of Chair of a local Indigenous Committee organising National Indigenous Carnivals named the Charles Perkins Indigenous Netball Football Carnivals (5 years). Jennifer was named as Federal Netball Club Life Member in 2001.
Jennifer credits Netball and those involved with ASNA in the past as major influences on her life. “Netball played a pivotal role for me as a very young Indigenous person. I was taken under the wing of three very passionate women in netball, Pat Gallagher (RIP), Cheryl Talbot and Sue Jones. “They accepted and supported me, showed me I had a lot to offer and made me believe in myself”. This is what is driving Jennifer’s passion for ASNA as she looks forward to continuing to position netball in Alice Springs an inclusive, family friendly and fun sport for all members of the community to be involved in as well as overseeing the growth of the largest sporting organisation in Alice Springs.
