The inaugural Ukrainian Cup, held on Sunday 16 July, was a fun-filled day which brought the Sydney and Newcastle communities together to play some football, raise money for Ukraine and celebrate everything blue and yellow!
This year saw the Newcastle UA (Dynamo Newcastle) take on their Sydney UA friends in a match to raise much needed funds for the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations’ (AFUO) humanitarian charity Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
Mychailo Lanycia, who helped to organise the visiting Sydney UA team, said “We were worried it was going to rain, but as one of the guys said – it’s only rain, not bombs.”
The day was attended by the Federal Member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon, who presented a specially dedicated trophy to the winning team, dedicated to the memory of Oleksandr Matsievskyi, whose execution by machine gun fire was filmed by Russian forces. Matsievskyi was awarded the Hero of Ukraine award by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy earlier this year.
“The smiles are very telling of the Ukrainian community. They’re a very strong and proud people,’ said event organiser Jim Snoz.
Proudly wearing specially made jerseys, the teams played a spirited game with Newcastle UA winning 2-1, whilst spectators enjoyed a BBQ and stalls selling Ukrainian food and merchandise.
Lily Semciw, Secretary AFUO Humanitarian Aid Committee actively sought donations and spoke about the work of the Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
Jarema Polotajko, AFUO Treasurer attended the day and said “We need all the donations and assistance we can possibly muster for humanitarian aid. It’s been tough for our community – we’ve got relatives there and we worry about them every day.”
DONATE here to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal
