While many may know Alana Fraser as a tough-as-nails guard and dead-eye sharpshooter, she also has a deep connection to her culture and community in the Torres Strait.
In a chat with NBL Media, Fraser explained her Mob are the Dauareb Meriam people from the Eastern Islands of the Torres Strait with connections to Erub (Darnley Island) and Ugar (Stephens Island).
Having grown up on Thursday Island, she was raised alongside family and cousins and now embodies her values of connection and community while playing for the South West Metro Pirates.
Coming off a fiery season-high of 16 points to take down the undefeated Northside Wizards, Fraser explained the community within the club has been special to her.
“Yeah, they've been really good. Every time it comes to this round they're always very supportive,” she told NBL Media.
“They try to bring all the community together,they want as much of my family to attend the games and all anyone else who's Indigenous, they want all their families to attend.”
Related: How the Pirates spoiled an undefeated streak
Fraser’s journey to the Pirates saw her travel all across the state of Queensland. Growing up on Thursday Island, moving to Townsville to attend secondary school, studying in Brisbane and now working full-time as an accountant and playing within the city.
Between her full-time job and basketball in Brisbane, she usually only gets to return home every Christmas to be alongside her family and cousins.
“You just all feel like you're one big family, if you need something, there's always someone there,” she said.
“Having that community, you always know there's someone around to help or talk to. You'd always find your cousins staying over, the community is good and everyone helps each other in all types of ways like work, school and basketball. Everyone's just one big family.”
Thursday Island is the main island of the Torres Strait, located in the middle of the main islands of the archipelago. With a population of around 3,000 people across a 3.5 square kilometre island, it’s easy to see how important community is to Fraser.
She explained it’s a very small community, but loved growing up in that environment.
“You get to go out in the boat, you get to go fishing. There’s not really any shops other than the grocery store, so you never really knew what shopping was like until we moved down south,” she said.
“But you just always found yourself outdoors and with your cousins or your family.”
With a minimum of 23 degrees during winter, Fraser and her entire family spent a lot of time outside playing basketball – especially as there was only one indoor court. She played in the local competition for many years and once she moved to Townsville, she started to make state teams for Queensland North.
(Supplied: Fraser's junior team)
Spending many years in Townsville, Fraser was inspired by the WNBL side to perform at the best level she could. But her number one inspiration on the court has been Leilani Mitchell.
The four-time WNBL champion, WNBA player, Opal and current Central Coast Crusader has been an inspiration for many – but for Fraser to see an Indigenous player perform at the highest level has been the thing she’s looked up to most.
“She's been such a great leader, when she was playing for the Opals and just watching her play you can see that she's such a good teammate,” Fraser said.
The NBL1 First Nations Round started last night and finishes on Sunday, July 7. Celebrations from the round will also continue into NAIDOC Week, which will run from July 7-14.
The 2024 NAIDOC Week theme is Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud & Proud. Read more here.
