Football West is delighted to reveal the winner of the 2024 NAIDOC Ball Design competition.

Deploy will proudly manufacture these custom T-Spec Series III footballs on behalf of Football West. 

Thornlie artist Gertrina Hayden used a match-day experience as the inspiration for her entry.

Her design and the Belt Up road safety message will be printed on 500 Deploy T-spec footballs and unveiled during NAIDOC Week next July.

The balls will be distributed to eligible clubs, schools and community organisations around Western Australia.

The NAIDOC Ball Design competition is a key component of the long-standing partnership between Football West and the Insurance Commission of Western Australia. It is open to members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and celebrates indigenous art while reminding all motorists to wear a seatbelt when travelling on WA roads.

Belt Up is the Insurance Commission’s road safety awareness campaign to promote the importance of wearing a seatbelt every time you get into a vehicle. Last year, 77 people who were not wearing a seatbelt were killed or seriously injured in crashes on WA roads. That is the equivalent of seven football teams. Wearing a seat belt can help you avoid injury or reduce the severity of an injury if you are in a crash.

Gertrina said she used the red, black and yellow of the Aboriginal flag to represent NAIDOC Week and bring people’s attention to the design.

The black panels with white wavy lines and small white dots are travelling lines and the supporters heading to watch the games, while the red area with circles represents the crowds at the stadium.

“The yellow section represents the players with small white dots, and the semi-circles in white reflect the sitting and watching the players,” she said.

“The design is about people travelling to the games, coming together and having a good time,” she said.

Gertrina will receive a $1,000 New Balance voucher plus a set of footballs featuring the winning design.

“I’m very excited about seeing my design on the footballs and hopefully it can encourage indigenous people to play the game,” she said.