AS PART of their involvement in the Aboriginal Power Cup, students from each of the 35 participant schools are required to design the team guernsey for the football carnival that started at Alberton Oval on Thursday.

Each student taking part in the program designed an individual guernsey then voted for the one that they wanted to most their team to wear on the field.

Coen Taylor and David Murray currently work at Port Adelaide Football Club one day a week as part of a school-based traineeship and are representing Le Fevre High School in the Aboriginal Power Cup this week.

“Every guernsey has a story behind it, that’s a big part of the Aboriginal Power Cup,” David said.

By having input into what the team wears, the students are given an opportunity to represent the dreaming of their communities through artwork.

“They can put the stories of their dreaming into a guernsey and be proud to wear it,” Coen added.

Le Fevre’s Aboriginal Power Cup team includes students from four other high schools including Seaton, Woodville, Ocean View and Henley Beach.

The team guernsey was inspired by each student coming together and bonding as one team, then taking separate paths for their own individual stories.

The Aboriginal Power Cup isn’t the only opportunity the students will be given to show off their team’s stories and dreaming, with each student able to keep the guernsey they wear during the competition.

South Australian Aboriginal Sports Training Academy manager Lindsay Bassain said the inclusion of a guernsey design into the program curriculum creates a cultural team-building exercise and encourages students to discover more about where they come from.

“It gives them confidence culturally to express themselves without being judged by others,” he said.

“They also learn why the symbols and colours from their area are important to them and the kids use that as a cultural learning outcome as well.”

The boys and girls finals of this year’s Aboriginal Power Cup will be played at AAMI Stadium at 10.05am tomorrow ahead of Port Adelaide’s Round 9 match against Geelong.

The Aboriginal Power Cup is proudly supported by Santos, the Government of South Australia, Transfield Services, Beach Energy, Maxima and UniSA.