Sport was recognised as proverbial manna from heaven at a special ecumenical celebration at St George’s Anglican Cathedral on April 6, the first such celebration of its kind in Perth history.
National and State sporting luminaries were a major feature of the event with legendary cricketing great Justin Langer reading from the Gospel of Matthew, and West Coast Eagles player, Nic Naitanui, speaking candidly about his faith.
“Fear is gone, when I know God is on my side,” the popular ruckman told a congregation which included scores of students and teachers from high schools throughout Perth, many in their school guernseys.
In a live interview with Eagles’ chaplain, Paul Morrison, Mr Naitanui spoke about growing up in a family home where there was a prayer group every Wednesday and Friday nights, saying that “praying every day” was a key part of his regime.
Mr Naitanui also revealed that a number of players met together to pray before each game, entrusting themselves to God.
Drag racer Pieter De Wit spoke about the life-changing experience of being involved in a 300km per hour crash in 2013, saying he had not known Christ prior to the accident.
“I thought I was lucky to be alive,” he said. “I later came to see that I was actually blessed to be alive… It was through this tragedy that I came to know him and to be saved.”
During the service, the Catholic and Anglican Archbishops of Perth, Timothy Costelloe SDB and Roger Herft, blessed the trophies brought by school students.
The Archbishops also took the opportunity to bless the “Archbishops Cup”, originally used in boys Catholic college athletics competitions after being struck in 1942, expanding to include girls in the 1970s.
Under the auspices of the then-Associated Catholic Colleges (ACC), the competition expanded again in the mid-1980s to include students from independent Anglican and Uniting Church schools.
The ACC changed its name to the Associated and Catholic Colleges of WA in 1998 and now involves 67 schools across the State, offering sport to around 48,000 students.
The cup itself was taken out of use and archived in 1992.
The Archbishops were joined at the ecumenical event by leaders from other denominations, including Wayne Pittaway (Salvation Army), Tania Watson (Churches of Christ), Karen Wilson (Riverview) and Mark Wilson (Baptist).
The event was jointly organised by Christians Together In Sport and Sports Chaplaincy Australia.