On a warm, sunny day in Naarm at the Sir Doug Nicholls Oval, a special announcement was occurring in the club rooms.
On land owned by the Aborigines Advancement League, the federal government announced $3 million would be set aside to finalise funding for an Aboriginal Women and Girls Sport and Wellness Centre, providing a dedicated facility for the Fitzroy Stars Football and Netball Club women's team.
The two-story structure will be Australia's first dedicated urban Indigenous cultural, educational, health and wellbeing safe space for First Nations women and girls and comes three years after the state government announced the project, only to see soil contamination blow out the costs.
Club President and Bangerang, Taungurung and Wiradjuri woman, Esme Bamblett, said for Mob sport was vitally important—not just on the field, but for the community and culture.
"It's actually a culture centre here with Fitzroy Stars Football and Netball Club," she told National Indigenous Times.
"It's a club for all the family, it's a club for all the community…it's a club for all out Mob here to celebrate our culture, celebrate each other [and] to watch amazing sportsmanship because our guts are absolutely amazing."
Ms Bamblett said the club had tripled in size since 2008 and did a lot of the unglamorous things that don't necessarily get the attention but are vital to supporting the community.
"We look after a lot of people, like in the area[s] of justice, in the area of health and wellbeing," she said.
"There's a lot of things we do outside of the sports part of the club. But the sports part of the club brings us together as a community…it's an amazing club, but it's also amazing for the families. It keeps our young people out of justice, it gives them something to look forward to each week, and it's really about celebrating our sportsmanship."
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Assistant Minister for Indigenous Health and Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ged Kearney, delivered the funding promise at the club on Saturday. She said the club, which harked back to its old location in Fitzroy, is a "hub" for the First Nations community.
"It's a place where people can come, where they feel safe," Ms Kearney told National Indigenous Times.
"They can play sport, they can get well, and they know this is a place that cares about them and will keep their culture alive."
The MP for the electorate of Cooper—named in honour of Aboriginal political activist William Cooper, who helped lead the first Day of Mourning on January 26, 1938—said the state government has previously come to the party, and the final $3 million will finally get the project over the line.
She told a crowd on Saturday the building wouldn't just be for the club but for the broader community.
"It will foster sport, it will have yarning circles, education [and] employment pathways, social and economic independence seminars, women's achievements and female leadership programs," Ms Kearney said.
"I'm so happy."
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, said, "Sport brings communities together".
"This investment by the Albanese Labor Government will ensure the Sport and Wellness Centre can do just that for First Nations communities in Melbourne," she said.
"This centre will not only be a space for First Nations women and girls to come together, it will also be a dedicated facility for the next generation of female sports stars from the Fitzroy Stars."
The announcement even ended with good news on the footy front for the Stars: the senior and reserves men's sides got up in their first home games for the season.
