Magpies Sporting Club have supported the Kanaka Proud Cup since it was established in 2017 to honour, celebrate and to share the history of the families that were taken from their South Sea Island’s and bought over to Australia to be used as slaves between 1863 to 1904.

The annual Kanaka Cup which is played in Mackay and Rockhampton on an alternate year, aims to promote mental health, wellbeing, cross-cultural awareness, and cultural heritage which includes further developing the cultural identity among the younger South Sea Islander Communities in Mackay and Rockhampton.

The Under 18 Men’s Mackay Kanaka Cup Team travelled to Rockhampton in November 2021 where they had the honour of being involved in a Cultural Day on the Friday before playing their match against their Rockhampton counterparts on Saturday.

The Cultural Day included a tour to a historical cemetery where hundreds of South Sea Islanders were buried in unmarked graves, Creek Street which was also known as ‘Kanaka Town’ and ‘The Flats’ where local elders told stories under a big tree about the past to the future generations of South Sea Islanders.

On the field, the Under 18 Men’s Mackay Kanaka Cup Team lost to the Under 18 Rockhampton Kanaka Cup Team by six points at Rugby Park.

Magpies Sporting Club supported the Under 18 Men’s Mackay Kanaka Cup Team with $1,000 to assist with their travel to Rockhampton.