Cronulla star Nicho Hynes has a mission to make sure the next generation of Indigenous Australians are proud of who they are.
Nicho Hynes remembers going to school that day.
For the first time in his life, the 13-year-old had a sense of belonging.
For the first time in his life, he was able to tell people where he came from.
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“I remember I started to be open and proud to be Aboriginal at age 7,” Hynes said.
However, Hynes’s pride did not match the brutal reaction of the schoolyard.
“It was a special moment for me to say, ‘I’m Aboriginal,'” Cronulla Sharks star explained.
“But right away, (schoolmates) were saying, ‘Bulls ***, why are you just talking about it now?’
“You’re not black, they would say. They started questioning me.
“I didn’t tell them it hurt, but it hurt like hell.”
Between the ages of five and 12, her mother, Julie, came in and out of prison, and Hynes lived with her father Mick Wilson.
Along with her older brother Wade, this was her whole family.
One day in particular, she was in elementary school when she saw her mother get in the back of a tow truck and put her back in jail.
It is an image that Hynes will never be able to erase from his young mind.
After years of mental anguish, tears, and a seemingly simple childhood dream of living as a family, Hynes’ mother finally came out of prison with answers.
And that’s why Hynes says he would never change anything about his upbringing, his love for his mother, or the hardened life experience he brings with him every day.
“Because my mother came in and out of prison, I never got to talk to her about who we were or my family,” Hynes said.
“Her mother died and her father was taken away when she was young, so I never knew anything.
“When my mother came in and out of prison, it was the other women in prison who taught her about our heritage.
“I heard from my grandfather, a proud aboriginal. That’s when she started to feel more proud of it.
“He came home and spoke openly about our indigenous background for the first time.”
Hynes discovered that his family is linked to Griffith and the village of Wiradjuri, the largest Aboriginal and island nation in the Torres Strait in Australia.
Raised in Umina, on the central coast, Hynes also felt responsible for representing both the Darkinjung and Mingaletta clans in the area.
Consoled in the sense of finally having a story to tell about who he was and where he came from, Hynes went to school with his shoulders back and his head held high.
That’s how it was, until he got the reaction from his teammates.
“It made me feel like, ‘Am I talking or not?’ I decided it wasn’t going to be open or expressive, “Hynes said.
“Looking back now, I think ‘Nicho, idiot.’ That’s who you are, that’s your identity.
“Looking back, it hurts people to wonder who you are.
“I remember once we had all our documentation, I posted it on Instagram as a bit of a thing.
“Once I reached an age where I was confident in talking about it, I have been proud and happy to have done so ever since.
“Now if anyone questioned me, I’d tell them to fill up.”
Hynes ranks second in the Dally M standings after an influential start to her Sharks career.
‘Kurranulla’ sharks host ‘Gadigal’ roosters at PointsBet Stadium on Saturday night for the NRL Indigenous Round.
Speaking with Hynes, he is very focused, as the main game creator of the team to own this side of the Sharks.
But there is much more to Hynes, the footballer.
There’s Hynes, the proud indigenous man who is driven to use his profile to change.
“If I was just an average Joe, back in Umina, I probably wouldn’t be sure to talk about who I am,” Hynes said.
“But the rugby league has given me this platform to go out and express who I am.
“People would look at Latrell Mitchell. He is a black boy, he has dark skin, he grew up knowing everything about who he is and he is very proud of it.
“I would love to be like that.
“People look at me and see this light-skinned, tanned boy, who doesn’t look like an aboriginal at all, but I’m and I’m very proud of him.
“This is what is so important about the Indigenous Round, we can share who we are and the children who love us, can fight for what we are doing.
“We are paving the way for the next generation.
“It simply came to our notice then.
“I used to watch Johnathan Thurston grow up and I loved him. He was my idol. My hero.
“I used to say, I just want to be on the big stage like Johnathan Thurston someday.
“He has done a lot of his work away from football to help educate young people.
“I can do it now. I’m not as good as him, but I’m on this big stage.
“I will be satisfied in life if I have a child from an Aboriginal community who says I want to be like Nicho Hynes someday.
“That’s my dream. If I can get a kid to say that, I’ve done my job. That’s why this round is so important.
“I would love to start a foundation. Whether it’s mental health or children with problems who can’t afford to go to representative carnivals.
“I have a lot of ideas, first of all it’s about playing good football.
“You can’t do all these things if you can’t play a good foot, so I’m very aware of making sure I have the right foot on the field and then the rest will come.
“I just want to be a massive influence on the younger generations, to make sure they go the right way, rather than the wrong way.
“I would not change any of my experiences around the world. That has made me who I am.
“I would not have changed my mother coming in and out of prison, I still love her to death and all I do is for her. (Hynes went to the Central Coast on Wednesday for her mother’s 50th birthday).
“I have learned lessons and this is the advice I have received to give to the next generation.
“Speak up and be proud of who you are.
“People don’t know your past, they don’t know what life you’ve been through.
“She is OK. So speak up and be proud. “