WAFC 
Former Prime Minister and current Minister for Foreign Affairs Kevin Rudd met players from the Edmund Rice Centre Lions this week ahead of their Harmony Cup game on Friday against The Balga Detached Bombers.
As part of the AFL’s inaugural Multicultural Round, the West Australian Football Commission in partnership with the Edmund Rice Centre is hosting the 2011 Harmony Cup at 12pm on Friday 15 July at Barry Britton Oval in Balga.
Mr Rudd said it was great to see young members from new emerging communities playing the Australian game and encouraged them to keep it up, saying he hoped some of them would make it to the AFL. Lastly he told them to stay in school!
The Harmony Cup will be played between the Edmund Rice Lions and the ‘Bombers’ from the Balga Detached Youth Work Project, which consists predominantly of Aboriginal players. The event is also supported by the Department of Sport and Recreation and the City of Stirling.
The Edmund Rice Lions team includes young boys from new and emerging communities (predominantly African), who have been introduced to football through a partnership between the Edmund Rice Centre and the WAFC as part of a Multicultural Football Program.
The objective is to assist participants with integration into the wider community and help them build confidence before transitioning into mainstream football clubs.
Part of their journey involves playing a series of friendly games against various community teams, with the Harmony Cup being the main match of the season.
Festivities will begin at 10am, with bounce down at 12pm. Special guests from The West Australian Football Commission, Department of Sport and Recreation and local government will also be present on the day.
More about the Lions
The Edmund Rice Centre Lions were formed in March 2010 and consist of players between the ages of 13 and 22, mostly from Sudan and Ethiopia. Each player is a new comer to Australia and AFL football.
The Lions team has involved more than 75 participants and 25 regular players, with 10 members of the inaugural team linked and registered to community clubs for the 2011 season.
This year, the Edmund Rice Lions team features another group of new players, all of which are new arrivals to Australia and aged 13 to 17.
The Lions are being coached in 2011 by members of the 2010 team and have already featured in several scratch matches against community clubs including an AFL Curtain Raiser to the West Coast Eagles v Melbourne match earlier this year.
