{"id":33646,"date":"2025-07-10T13:04:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T03:04:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=33646"},"modified":"2025-07-10T13:04:50","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T03:04:50","slug":"jaylah-boney-a-first-nations-warada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2025\/07\/10\/jaylah-boney-a-first-nations-warada\/","title":{"rendered":"Jaylah Boney- a First Nations Warada"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Jaylah Boney is one of the rising stars of Australian netball\u2014a fierce competitor, a proud Indigenous woman, and a natural leader. At just 18, the Central Coast Heart Premier League player has already represented her nation and state. Hailing from Brewarrina, a small town west of Dubbo, Jaylah brings the strength of her culture to everything she does, on and off the court.

\u201cI\u2019m a proud Ngemba Barkandji girl, so that\u2019s all my mob, from out past Dubbo,\u201d she says with quiet confidence. \u201cIt means everything to me\u2014not just in sport, but in everything I do. I\u2019m proud of who I am.\u201d<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jaylah\u2019s journey in netball began with family. Inspired by her mum, aunty and cousin, who all played at Cardiff Netball Club in Newcastle, Jaylah picked up a bib and hasn\u2019t looked back since. \u201cI used to watch my mum play every week\u2014being surrounded by family made me want to be a part of it too,\u201d she says.

Today, she competes at the elite level in the Netball NSW Premier League for Central Coast Heart and is steadily making her mark on the national stage. In 2024, she represented NSW at the inaugural First Nations Netball Tournament and was selected for the Black Swans team that competed at the Pan Pacific Championships. In 2024, Jaylah was named captain of the Netball NSW First Nations Team \u2013 the Waradas, leading her side to a bronze medal at the tournament.

\u201cBeing captain was really special. I\u2019d say I\u2019m humble, relentless and someone who leads by example. Whether on or off the court, I try to lift up my teammates and stay connected to my culture through everything I do.\u201d

Jaylah balances her athletic ambitions with her role working in administration at an Indigenous medical centre. She draws strength from her culture daily\u2014not just through work, but through dance. \u201cDance is a way we pass down our stories,\u201d she explains. \u201cI started performing at school, then with family, and now we get invited to perform at events. It just grew.\u201d<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Jaylah credits netball for shaping her as a person. \u201cIt\u2019s made me who I am today,\u201d she reflects. \u201cMy attitude\u2019s changed a lot. It never used to be the best, but netball\u2019s taught me resilience, how to bounce back, how to be a better version of myself. I\u2019m really grateful for that.\u201d

Her path hasn\u2019t always been easy. Before the First Nations Tournament, she considered stepping away from the sport. But the opportunity to play for her culture reignited her purpose.

\u201cThat pathway kept me in the game. It meant everything.\u201d

As NAIDOC Week 2025 honours The Next Generation \u2013 Strength, Vision, Legacy<\/em>, Jaylah embodies the theme wholeheartedly.

\u201cWe need to stand up, pass on our culture\u2014not just to others, but to each other. As the next generation, we\u2019ve got to keep doing what we\u2019re doing, and do it together.\u201d<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jaylah Boney is one of the rising stars of Australian netball\u2014a fierce competitor, a proud Indigenous woman, and a natural leader. At just 18, the Central Coast Heart Premier League player has already represented her nation and state. Hailing from Brewarrina, a small town west of Dubbo, Jaylah brings the strength of her culture to … Continue reading “Jaylah Boney- a First Nations Warada”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33647,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33646\/revisions\/33647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}