The Australian Football Harmony Cup is an amateur

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

competition featuring teams drawn from Melbourne's migrant communities. The tournament is coordinated by

Australian Football International Australian Football International (AFI), is a world development body for the sport of Australian rules football. The organisation has developed a version of the sport known as Footy 9s that it claims will support global expansion of Australi ...

. It was first held in 2004 in Melbourne around National Harmony Day.

Background

Australian Football is also known for a high participation rate amongst migrants, particularly amongst Europeans. Many such players reach the highest levels and some like

Ron Barassi Ronald Dale Barassi Jr. (born 27 February 1936) is a former Australian rules footballer, coach and media personality. Regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of the game, Barassi was the first player to be inaugurated into ...

Stephen Silvagni Stephen Silvagni (born 31 May 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). As the second member of three generations of Silvagnis to represent the Blues, he is ...

, Robert DiPierdomenico and

Alex Jesaulenko Oleksandr "Alex" Jesaulenko ( ; uk, Олександр Васильович Єсауленко, Oleksandr Vasiliovych Yesaulenko, ; born 2 August 1945) is a former Australian rules footballer and who played for the Carlton Football Club and t ...

are legends of the game. Some

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

clubs, such as

Carlton Carlton may refer to: People * Carlton (name), a list of those with the given name or surname * Carlton (singer), English soul singer Carlton McCarthy * Carlton, a pen name used by Joseph Caldwell (1773–1835), American educator, Presbyterian ...

are renowned for the high number of players of Mediterranean origin.

Teams

The Harmony Cup has included teams representing multicultural communities from Albania, Chile, Croatia, Israel, Ireland, Greece, Italy, Lebanon, Malta,

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Samoa, South Sudan, Spain,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, Tonga, Wales, Vietnam and Turkey. A side drawn from the Melbourne

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

community has also competed at the Harmony Cup. Teams under the banner of "United Nations", "Team Harmony" and "Team Africa" have also competed at the Harmony Cup.

History

The first Harmony Cup was held in 2004 at

Skinner Reserve Skinner Reserve is an Australian rules football stadium located on Churchill Avenue, Braybrook, Victoria. It is most notable as the former home ground of the Sunshine Football Club in the Victorian Football Association (VFA). Prior to Skinner ...

, Braybrook in 2004, with Israel 8.9 (57) defeating Samoa 1.0 (6) in the Grand Final. The 2005 Harmony Cup was won by Greece 5.5 (35) over Turkey 3.3 (21) in front of a crowd of 2,300 at Optus Oval in

, Melbourne. The Harmony Cup returned in 2010 and has been held every year since.

Results

References

{{Reflist

External links