SCALA Indigenous Corporation is a 100% Aboriginal-owned / female-lead not-for-profit/charity organisation. Aunty Roma Pregarc is a Yugambeh and Ugarapul/Yuggera woman who is a trusted cultural knowledge holder; academic; experienced mentor and business professional; innovative leader and entrepreneur; and an accredited netball coach.  

 

Additionally, Aunty Roma is a member of the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee in the School of Public Health at the University of Queensland, and is a member of Netball Australia's First Nations Advisory Committee where we provide advice and recommendations pertaining to a Declaration of Commitment which was signed in 2020 by 20 of netball's peak bodies who pledged to take action to break down the barriers and address the biases that have prevented Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander athletes from flourishing at the elite level in the sport.

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Did you know that 'Women's Basketball' was introduced to Australia from England in 1897, and the name was officially changed from Women's Basketball to Netball in 1927?  Did you also know there have been only three Aboriginal women to be selected as an Australian Netball Diamond representative in the history of the sport? 

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For many years there has been a culmination of inequities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander netball players, umpires, coaches and administrators, with a lack of tangible opportunities and pathways available for Indigenous females to receive culturally appropriate mentoring and coaching from qualified Indigenous mentors and role models at the elite level in netball.

 

Until Now!  

 

I concluded that I possess the intellectual capacity to change this, and that is because my 'point of difference' is that, unti now, there has been no other Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander woman who has the combined amount of in-depth cultural knowledge and lived experiences in community, advanced mentorship and leadership skills, extensive business experience with a successful netball coaching background. 

 

So as a result of the continuing unavailability/lack of inclusive pathways for First Nations netball players, coaches and umpires, and because of the controversy surrounding the only Indigenous athlete of the eight State teams, Jemma Mi Mi, not taking the court in the Suncorp Super Netball Indigenous Round in 2020, Aunty Roma came up with the idea to establish a social enterprise which, among other things, cares for and nurtures Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Culturally and Racially Margianalised youth and young women so that they can excel in sport (particularly netball). 

 

The main services our social enterprise offers encompass, but are not limited to specialised sport programs for Indigenous and non-Indigenous individuals and organisations, leadership workshops, and cultural education and guidance. The entities consist of a not-for-profit/charity that primarily assists Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in sport and leadership, and a commercial entity that facilitates on-court netball sessions as well as educational workshops for people in mainstream organisations so they can learn to be allies and supporters of about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.

  

SCALA Indigenous Corporation (SCALA) trading as Sport, Culture and Leadership Academy (Academy) commenced operating as a not-for-profit organisation in December 2020 and received charity/public benevolent institution status with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission in August 2022.

 

Under our not-for-profit/charitable portfolio, SCALA commenced operating our Indigenous Diamonds Pathway Program (IDPP) in Townsville Queensland in 2021 to offer high performance netball training to talented Indigenous athletes. From that talented squad of athletes, our Indigenous Diamonds - Townsville team was formed which we entered into the region's premier league netball competition in 2022.

 

We are proud to say that our Indigenous Diamonds - Townsville team achieved history-making status as the first 'all-Indigenous' netball team to have ever competed in a women's premier league netball competition in Australia. 

 

In 2023, SCALA continued running the IDPP in Townsville, but expanded its operations to south-east Queensland to develop more talented First Nations netballers playing and reaching the sem-finals in the Greater Brisbane Netball League U18 division of the competition.

 

SCALA also delivers an Indigenous Diamonds Mentoring Program (IDMP) fo support up-and-coming Indigenous netball players, an Indigenous Umpire Pathway Program (IUPP) which assists youth to succeed in their umpiring journey, and an Indigenous Coach Pathway Program (ICPP) with our first mentee being an Indigenous male netball coach based in Dubbo, New South Wales. 

 

We also do much more than coaching and mentoring in sport. We offer leadership education and cultural immersion sessions for Indigenous and non-Indigenous businesses and sporting organisations. Overall, we offer specialised services and programs which we tailor to suit the requirements of Indigenous or non-Indigenous organisations.  

 

Additionally, SCALA is in the process of diversifying its Queensland operations by introducing other types of sporting codes that offer wider interest for all genders, and we also have the desire to spread our wings and offer our services  and programs interstate. 

 

Inclusion is a key element in everything we do, and we could achieve so much more if we have more collaborations and/or partnerships with interested stakeholders who have capacity to provide in-kind goods and services and/or financial assistance.

 

If you would like to make a personal donation, please see our DONATE tab where you can find a QR code. We also welcome enquiries regarding sponsorship, partnerships and other collaborative opportunities.

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