Defending champions NSW Pride today are excited to launch our 2023 jersey for the upcoming JDH Hockey One League season with our new official apparel supplier New Balance.
This new jersey design has a great significant to the Hockey community in NSW as it features Jodi Herden, a proud Gomeroi women First Nations artwork ‘To Play with Heart’. This artwork was first unveiled last Hockey One league season and incorporates indigenous Hockey stories from across the state.
Upon unveiling the artwork artist Jodi Herden said, “I am very honoured to be given the opportunity to produce this work and was very important to me as I have close ties and connections to the Hockey community as my aunty who is an elder of our community, played Hockey many, many, many years ago and loves the game.
“The ideas for the artwork came from a collaborative of stories that were sent through from ambassadors of the game, the First Nations players across all Hockey NSW and collectively I worked with those stories and collaborated them together to create this piece.
“The central symbol represents Hockey NSW itself and the gathering symbols requests the Hockey NSW teams, then the pathways travelling out connect to the communities, families and the smaller clubs that play and what forms the bigger picture of Hockey NSW. The dots, which there are thousands represent each of the players and the finer pathways and that’s the players that play at that elite level.
“So, the artwork as a whole tells the story about the connections and importance of Hockey and Hockey NSW and coming together, working with the community, the teams, the players, the coaches and everything that makes up Hockey NSW.”
NSW Pride Player and Indigenous Ambassador Mariah Williams said “For me to have the indigenous artwork on our uniform means the world. Not just to me but to my mob and the wider community. Jodi has done an amazing job with bringing everything that Hockey NSW and the Hockey community stands for into this artwork. I feel it shows inclusion to mob and hopefully makes other indigenous people feel welcomed to the Hockey community. The artwork is titled ‘To Play with Heart’ and I feel that resonates with me whole heartedly, to play for my family, my mob, my team, the Hockey community and Hockey NSW.”
NSW Pride are proud to have a First Nations artwork that is so significant to the Hockey community across NSW featured on our new uniforms.
Click here to purchase your NSW Pride Memberships or Tickets for the upcoming Hockey One league season.