To shouts of ‘Ole Ole’, a famous soccer crowd chant, 16 teams from the Archdiocese of Perth kicked off at Mercedes College on Saturday to compete for the Knights of the Southern Cross Cup.
The first-time event, sponsored by the Malaysian Singaporean Catholic Community Australia (MSCCA), was coordinated by the Knights of the Southern Cross Cathedral Branch with the help of Mercedes Girls College to raise funds for the youth.
“The Knights of the Southern Cross Cathedral Branch is about youth leadership development and under that umbrella the tactic is building,” Tristan Kolay, branch chairman, said.
“The money raised will go towards a library of equipment and liturgical [assets] for youth ministry and activities like retreats, camps and workshops.”
The kick-off started at 9am with a blessing and an opening prayer from Fr Roy Pereira.
“The event is bringing all the youth from different parishes to socialise, build relationships and on common ground strengthen each other’s faith in the spirit of evangelisation,” Fr Roy told The Record.
Organisers were delighted with the tournament’s success; seminarians, priests, men and women of all ages took to the pitch.
Mercedes Girls College also had a team.
“This event really captures community team spirit and it encourages us girls to come out,” Fay Ann D’Souza, from the Holy Trinity Community who assembled a team called The Saints, said.
The tournament also piqued the interest of Chris Neve, a member of St Bernadette’s Trinity 102 Youth Group. “I heard about the Knights through the soccer,” Mr Neve said.
“It got me interested in helping youth,”
The Knights of the Southern Cross Cathedral Branch has been operating for the past six months and the group will be officially inducted on July 14 after the 11am Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral.
“The Cathedral Knights are a youthful group,” Rod McAtee, State executive officer for the Knights of the Southern Cross, said.
“The tournament they put on combines different parishes and brings the youth together and lets them know that they are not alone.”
The final match of the day was between the Cathedral and United Nations teams.
Fr Roy tossed a coin to determine which team would choose the end they wanted to kick towards and then he ceremonially kicked the ball.
By half-time the scoreboard read 4-1 in favour of United Nations; not only were they representing St Joseph’s Subiaco, the six team members all represented different countries, namely, England, Peru, France, India, Japan and New Zealand.
United Nations went on to win the Knights of the Southern Cross cup; they also won $300, which will go towards the youth community at St Joseph’s Subiaco.
“We are here to promote the right spirit of playing,” Hansel Pereira member of United Nations, said.
“Sports is good way to integrate people and bring people together,” Carlos Lopez, another team member, said.
James Oldroyd, goalkeeper for United Nations added, “It was fun and well organised for the first time.”