Meet the First Nations Elite Athletes at UTS

NAIDOC Week is an important time in Australia to celebrate the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. 

This week, we’re shining the spotlight on some of the First Nations athletes part of the UTS Sport Elite Athlete program making waves both in the UTS community and on the Australian stage. 

Jordan Williams 

UTS Sport and ActivateUTS acknowledge the Gadigal and Guring-gai people of the Eora Nation upon whose ancestral lands the university now stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past, present, and emerging, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these places.

Jordan is a first-year construction and project management student playing elite rugby for the Australian Rugby 7s Men’s squad. He is of Aboriginal (Bundjalung) and New Zealand heritage. 

He played a lot of sports growing up – everything from athletics to cricket, basketball, and even rowing, but it was rugby that stuck. He started playing rugby from a very early age as an U8 at the Merrylands Junior Rugby Union club. Fast forward to 2021, and he has just been selected in the Junior Wallabies squad ahead of the Oceania Rugby tournament. 

His selection in both the Australian Men’s 7s squad after finishing Year 12 in 2020 and his recent Junior Wallabies selection have been highlights of his career and testament his strong work ethic and commitment to the sport. But he can’t take all the credit, he claims he owes a lot of his success from the support of the teams and coaches he’s had over his young career. 

He’s currently working through an injury, but he’s grateful that this down time has given him time to re-focus and to set new goals in the sport he loves. Jordan explains, “you can never underestimate the mental game in sport. I enjoy challenges and celebrate getting back up when you get knocked down. The comradery that comes with sport and contributing to high performing teams motivates me more than ever.” 

Jordan’s family taught him from a young age the importance in contributing to his community and raising others up on the way. “I am so proud to be part of Australia’s First Peoples,” Jordan exclaims. “Sharing and listening to stories with our Elders is one of my favourites things to do.” This year’s theme is 'Heal Country!', which Jordan explains “expresses an urgent call for society to repair its relationship to nature, respecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural tradition that honours ‘Country’ as our heart, our home, our haven.” 

So what’s next for this junior Wallaby? He aims to continue building his career in rugby, finish his degree, and become an ambassador for the sport he loves. 

Nicholas Hay

Nicholas is a second-year sport and exercise science student who plays cricket. His family come from the Kamilaroi and Wiradjuri lands across several generations, living and growing up in the towns of Gunnedah and Hillston in regional NSW. 

The earliest memories of his summer holidays are of time spent with his family and grandparents, with a TV that always showed the cricket. His grandfather used to tell him stories of his past cricketing days with Sydney University and abroad in England, so it’s not surprising to hear that Nicholas picked up the bat and ball at age 9. He’s now playing his 12th season.

His cricket career has seen him play in the likes of the NSW Country Championships, but he shares that his sporting highlight was representing the Indigenous Sydney Sixers side in the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander XI T20 Cup. This tournament has a competitive side to it but uses cricket to promote awareness of culture and close the gap. Nicholas highlights “being able to participate in smoking ceremonies, welcome to country from an elder of the land and engaging with local primary schools to provide cricket clinics is a time I will always look forward to each year.” 

His culture is important to him and that NAIDOC Week is a time of reflection and education, a time for us all to listen to the stories of Indigenous people and hear what they have to say. “For many Indigenous people, it can often feel hard to know the place our culture has in this country, but NAIDOC Week allows for Indigenous culture to shine and become a focal point in society and raise awareness for the important place our culture has in the heart of the nation. Hopefully every NAIDOC Week is a time for more people to come together, share their stories and move forward together as a country.”

As for the future, he hopes to continue his work as a Strength and Conditioning Coach, potentially complete postgraduate study at UTS, and continue working hard in cricket aiming to represent the NSW Indigenous team at Nationals one day. 

Louis Grossemy

Louis is a sports and exercise management student playing rugby league for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. 

Initially, he started playing footy at the age of 4 for fun and to spend time with his friends. Fast forward to 2021, and he has played in the Koori Knockout and has locked himself a spot on the South Sydney Rabbitohs U20 squad.

He cites representing NSW in the 2019 NSW Koori Cup as the highlight of his career (so far) summarising it as “a highlight of mine because it gave me the opportunity to represent where I’m from and my family.” 

With a strong connection to his culture, he reflects on NAIDOC Week as “a time to come together, celebrate our culture, and accept who we are as people.” It’s an important time for him to connect with his ancestors and remember the history and achievements from the past and present. 

In the future, Louis aims to play in the NRL while also maintaining a personal training brand alongside his professional rugby league career. With the help of the UTS EAP program, he’s been able to balance his sporting aspirations and studies to get him on the way to those future goals. 

Taine Woodford

Taine is a Bachelor of Communication (Journalism) student playing rugby league for the St George Illawarra Dragons Jersey Flegg team. He is a proud Kooma man (border region of Queensland and New South Wales) with a deep connection to Wiradjuri land; land that has provided his family with a deep sense of identity, purpose and belonging.

He grew up in a community that loved sport so it was no surprise, he was an active child playing a variety of games including soccer, athletics, swimming, rugby union, and rugby league. Since starting rugby league at the age of 4, he has progressed through the ranks with a number of achievements along the way. His sporting highlight? Being awarded the U19’s Dragons SG Ball Player of the Year in 2021. Taine describes it as “a goal of mine”. Though his dedication, diligence, and the help of his teammates and coaches, he was able to achieve it. 

As for his heritage, Taine sees NAIDOC week as an important time for both himself and his family, as it plays a significant step in achieving reconciliation in Australia through opportunities and resources for both non-Indigenous and Indigenous peoples. He explains that “while NAIDOC week each year for me celebrates and acknowledges our past and our present, it also looks to the future with hope.”
As for Taine’s future, he hopes to gain a spot in the NRL’s full time training squad. But, he also has his eyes set on work in journalism with an internship at Fox Sports lined up. 

UTS Sport’s Elite Athlete program supports 300 students at UTS competing in high level sport to manage both their study and sporting commitments. Over the years, UTS Sport has supported Olympians, World and National Champions, and National and State level representatives in over 45 different sports. 

The program offers a range of support including academic, financial, access to facilities, grants, and opportunities to compete in tournaments. To find out more about the program, visit the ActivateUTS website.