Perth Pythons to hold hockey Pride Cup later this year

Perth Pythons to hold hockey Pride Cup later this year
Image: A shot from the Pythons' fundraising calendar last year. Image: Supplied.

After their wildly successful inaugural Pride Cup, Perth’s LGBTI hockey club the Pythons are planning to hold another event this year.

The match in November was funded by the Australian Sports Foundation’s Giving for Grassroots Sport4Everyone program, which offers grants to clubs that promote sport to all genders, cultures, abilities and ages, Guardian Express has reported.

Captain Reid Smith said the funding allowed the club to put on a bigger and more appealing event for spectators than previous matches.

“Before we got the grant, it was an informal event; the grant enabled us to expand on it, and we had a couple hundred people come down,” Smith said.

“Having the scale with the entertainment including a drag show and food vans, made it a professional event which helped invite people.

“It became part of the larger month of Pride as well.”

The match was a big enough event to draw spectators from outside of the LGBTI community.

Smith said that after last year’s success, the Pride Cup is set to return this November.

“Another knock-on effect from the original sponsorship was that because the event was much larger and successful, we’ve now been able to use that to get sponsorship [elsewhere] to continue that,” he said.

The Pythons made headlines last year when team members stripped down for a nude fundraising calendar.

The club has its sights on this year’s Gay Games in Paris.

The AUstralian Sports Foundation’s Giving for Grassroots Sport4Everyone program is currently taking grant applications from inclusive sporting clubs and groups.

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