Late last year, Jenae found out about a netball jersey design competition run by Gold Road Resources. If you’ve met Jenae or seen the art and design work she’s created, it’s probably not a surprise that this project was right up her alley.
“So Holla (Shooting Stars Laverton Program Coordinator), she came up to me saying Gold Road was doing a competition for a netball jersey, so of course I wanted to do it, I like doing the competitions ‘cause it’s kind of fun” Jenae said.
“In 2021 I did a design competition for the cycling Jerseys – the ones that ride from Perth to Laverton. I entered a competition for that and I ended up winning, and last year the riders rode wearing my design. …. And I got one as well.”
Jenae was also commissioned to design a jersey for this year’s Perth to Laverton Cycling Classic, to add to her growing list of design accomplishments. A year 11 student with such an impressive portfolio to date, it’s hard not to picture Jenae building a career on this skill and passion.
“If I’m able to, that would be a very fun career for me because I already love doing stuff like that.”
She described some of the things she enjoys about Aboriginal art. “To be able to tell a story – there’s so many symbols that you can use, and most people know what they mean so they can just pick apart the story without having someone to explain it to them, so that’s way easier than reading one of them little cards on the walls.”
Using Gold Road’s colours and brand elements as a starting point, Jenae’s netball jersey design incorporates symbolism that represents the company, netball, Shooting Stars, meeting groups, tracks and Australian Country.
“My main idea was to have a netball that looks like kind of a shooting star with stuff coming behind it to kind of represent Shooting Stars. That was mostly the main idea and I just built off it after that for the rest of it.”
When describing further elements of the design, Jenae said “They’re mostly meeting groups, some are waterholes, some are tracks, and the kangaroo on the back is the main animal you think of when you think of Australia.”
Social Performance & Community Coordinator at Gold Road, Jessica Jones, spoke highly of the design.
“The judges’ attention was immediately captured by Jenae’s design, the incorporation and adaption of the Gold Road logo and colours with the splash of blue was an instant hit. We loved the inclusion of the various meeting circles on both the front and back which for us, symbolises our people coming together to connect, play, and share experiences.
“We attributed the success of the Gold Road netball team to the design of our shirts, everyone was very happy to show them off and we have no doubt we will see Jenae’s artwork being proudly worn by our people for years to come!”
The staff at Gold Road were “blown away with the quality of entries they received” from the Shooting Stars girls, and to express thanks, all participants who entered were presented with a gift. Jenae was also presented with a tablet and a framed display of her jersey design, signed by West Coast Fever Premiership Coach - Dan Ryan, Captain – Courtney Bruce and Vice Captain – Jess Anstiss.
Both Jessica Jones and Sharon Goddard attended the Laverton District High School assembly for the presentation, and enjoyed seeing Jenae’s reaction to her prize.
