The talented Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Griffith University students are up and coming stars in their respective sports of netball and swimming.

Griffith Sports College Manager Naomi McCarthy said the scholarship was a great initiative amid what had been a tough period for athletes globally.

“I feel quietly optimistic about the year ahead,” McCarthy said.

“We are really pleased to see support for Indigenous athletes through this scholarship as now, more than ever, we need to support growing Indigenous representation at the elite level of sport.”

Beryl Friday. (Image: Supplied)

Friday, a former Queensland Firebird and current Ipswich Jets player, was extremely grateful for the recognition.

“This scholarship means the world to me as it allows me to focus more on my degree and community engagements,” she said.

The Kuku Nyungkul woman, also a descendant of Olkola, Birrigubba and Kamilaroi nations, said her education degree would help her inform others of her mob’s customs, beliefs, and history.

“I have a real passion for education and have always loved to teach and educate others, particularly on my culture.”

Crisp is keen to pursue a career in research to become a specialised medical practitioner, before eventually studying a Doctor of Medicine.

“Since starting my degree at Griffith, my passion for learning and inquisition has profoundly deepened, sparking my interest in health, medicine and research,” Crisp, a proud Wiradjuri woman, said.

“Learning about the intricacies of life has opened up a whole new world to me, and I aspire to one day assist Australia’s First Peoples by contributing towards improving current health inequalities as a medical practitioner.”

Crisp has her sights set on the Australian Commonwealth Games Swimming Trials next year and aims to compete in the 10km marathon swim at the 2022 World Swimming Championships, with her ultimate goal being the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Ron Clarke, Edinburgh 1970 (Image: Getty Images)

Griffith Sports Engagement Director Duncan Free OAM said the athletes were selected from a talented pool of individuals.

“Their passion is very evident,” he said.

“Ron Clarke was a great man, a great ambassador for sport, and an unbelievable athlete in his own right who has left us an amazing legacy.

“We could not be prouder of these two students and I’m sure they will be wonderful ambassadors, just as Ron was.”

Ron Clarke AM MBE was an Olympic and Commonwealth athlete who set 17 run world records over distances from 3.2km to 20km, and a qualified accountant, serving as Gold Coast Mayor from 2004 to 2012, and helped secure the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018.

The Ron Clarke Griffith Futures scholarships are worth $11,000 per year of full-time study for up to four years for each student in a joint funding arrangement between Griffith University and Commonwealth Games Australia.