North Rocks Carlingford Little Athletics Centre acknowledges the Darug Peoples as the traditional owners of the land at Kingsdene Oval. For around 60,000 years the area of Parramatta has been occupied by the Burramattagal people, a clan of the Darug, who lived here along the upper reaches of the Parramatta River. Burramattagal is thought to be derived from the Aboriginal word for 'place where the eels lie down' to breed (in Parramatta River). The Burramattagal have a close relationship with the river, from which they caught fish, eels, and other food. Their stable bark canoes often carried a small fire in the middle - built on a mound of soil to allow them to cook their catch fresh. 'Firebrand farming' was also practiced in the region. Soon after Governor Phillip's arrival with the First Fleet (of convicts from England) in 1788, Parramatta was developed as a farming settlement to feed the new English colony. This led to the immediate and tragic displacement of local Aborigines from the land they had lived off for tens of thousands of years. Local Aboriginal groups led a resistance against the new settlers and the most prominent warrior was Pemulwuy.

North Rocks Carlingford Little Athletics Centre acknowledges that we are on Aboriginal land and recognise the strength, resilience, and capacity of Aboriginal people on this land. We would like to acknowledge all of the traditional owners of the land and pay respect to Aboriginal Elders past and present.