Among the unmistakable Big Blue and White V’s, Sky Blues and Maroons of the CommBank Emerging Socceroos Championships, a new side has been grabbing the attention of spectators at the last three annual national youth tournaments.
They wear all-black with a yellow crest across their hearts. They are called The Charles Perkins XI.
Formally known as the Invitational XI, the Charles Perkins XI aims to expand Indigenous Talent Identification opportunities, creating a chance for aspiring and emerging First Nations Footballers to shine on the national stage.
As the pitches around The Home of The Matildas hummed with the sound of football being played on quarter finals day, the Football Victoria team came together to hear more about the formation and mission of the program.
General Manager of First Nations Football Courtney Fewquandie spoke about how the program begun and the benefits this affords the boys and girls involved.
“The program came about through the National Youth Championships back in 2023. There were some open slots in the draw and we realised that there were quite a few First Nations kids who had just missed out on their State team sides.
“I was asked if we could put together an exhibition team to play one match, but thought ‘why bring everyone together to play one match? Let’s play for the whole tournament.’ And that’s what we did.
“We brought a girls team together first and, after just one training session, they went on to make the quarter finals.”
“There are many reasons as to why some of our kids can’t access the same high-performance football – some of them logistics, some of them timings, some of them socio-economic.
“What we are also finding is that this program is a culturally safe place for our kids to thrive – it really is an honor to lead it.”
For the first time since the program’s inception, the teams taking to the pitch this week and at next week’s CommBank Emerging Matildas Championships will be known as The Charles Perkins XI.
A fierce advocate and visionary for the rights of Indigenous Australians, as well as one of the pioneers of football in Australia, Dr Charles Perkins was one of Australia's most influential figures in sport and civil rights.
In a recent interview with Mirage News, Fewquandie said “This is more than a name change, it's a tribute to a giant of our game and our nation. Dr Perkins' legacy is one of courage, conviction, and transformative change."
On the pitch, the teams are headed-up by two icons of the game in Australia. Former Matilda Gema Simon is the Head Coach of the Girls XI and former Socceroo David Williams is the Head Coach of the Boys XI.
Williams spoke to us about the role he and new Technical Director, another former Socceroo, Travis Todd play in shaping these boys, as both players and people.
“I played at this exact competition when I was 16 and from there, I made a 19-year professional football career representing Australia at all levels.
“We’re obviously here to teach them how to play well on the pitch. But there’s something more important in my role.
“I want to help foster them through their football journey, give them some life lessons, if they do take that next step in their career, can they turn up, can they be reliable, can they be respectful?
“I’m so proud to be given this opportunity to coach this team and thankful we could get this initiative off the ground through a great team whose passion has made this possible."
Four games in and it’s already been a successful tournament for The Charles Perkins XI, who typically go into each match as underdogs.
They stunned Victoria 4-0 in their first game, dropped game two 3-1 against Capital Football, fell agonisingly short of a quarter final birth after conceding a goal with seconds remaining against Queensland to lose 2-1 then fought their way back from a two-goal deficit against Tasmania to win 4-3.
With a place in the top eight off the cards, the team’s focus is on securing ninth place overall.
“After a deflating loss, they were all sad and deflated; but these kids have something in them. Right away they started saying, “yeah, let’s get ninth place!”