Community Cup
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The Community Cup is an annual charity Australian rules football match held in St Kilda, Melbourne. The event, which raises funds for the Sacred Heart Mission, is held each winter at the Junction Oval. The 2006 event was attended by 23,000 people, and raised approximately A$150,000 for the charity.
The football match features two teams of non-footballing local communities: the 3RRR/3PBS Megahertz, which consists of personnel from the city's two main community radio stations, and the Espy Rock Dogs, a mix of former and present musicians and bar staff from the Esplanade Hotel. The match is usually umpired by a mix of comedians and notable music industry people, costumed according to a humorous theme (most recently Devo in 2006).
The annual event first began in 1993, with a game between the Espy Rockdogs and the Tote Hotel, and raised A$500. It was first known as the Community Cup in 1997 after attracting the attention of 3RRR and PBS FM, and raised over A$6000 in front of 2000 people at the Ross Gregory Oval in St Kilda. It subsequently moved to the Junction Oval, a former Victorian Football League venue, where audiences have continued to grow in recent years. It first packed the venue to capacity in 2005, attracting 23,000 people, and did so again in 2006, despite the installation of temporary fencing to accommodate more spectators. It is promoted as being "kid and dog friendly", and during the quartertime breaks the playing oval fills with both, and the air turns black with flying footballs as spontaneous games of kick to kick take place. Despite the size of the crowd and the free flowing alcohol from several beer tents, it is a trouble free and casual event.
The match is followed by the presentation of a number of medals named after recently deceased musicians, including Dave McComb, Paul Hester, Grant McLennan, Tim Hemensley, Norm Fagg, Andrew Encth and Stuart Speed. The Dave Taranto Medal, named for a former PBS-RRR comic presenter, is awarded to the "most silly Megahertz". The only living medal is the Stephen Hurley Medal, named for a member of the first Rockdogs side in 1993 who broke his spine in November that year and is now confined to a wheelchair. The Steve Connolly Medal is awarded for the best on ground, and is presented by The Age sports writer Rohan Connolly in memory of his brother.
The match itself is accompanied by a two-to-three hour long concert, along with entertainment at half time, and usually sees notable acts volunteering their time to entertain the Community Cup audience. Notable performances include Paul Kelly, TISM and Magic Dirt (2004), one-off reunion concerts by Rebecca's Empire and Weddings Parties Anything (2005) and Dave Graney (2006). Paul Kelly returned again to accompany Renée Geyer on harmonica while she sang "Waltzing Matilda" at the 2006 Cup, with state sports minister and former VFL footballer Justin Madden tossing the coin to decide which team was kicking for which goal.
