This was published 7 years ago
Canberra football codes go head to head against domestic violence
By Stephen Jeffery
Depending on who you are and where you come from, the word "footy" could conjure images of league, union, Australian rules or even Oz Tag.
On Saturday, players from all four codes mixed and fought for the title of "Canberra's best footy club" to raise funds for domestic violence prevention and support services at Viking Park in Erindale.
Nate Wells and Lawrence Teinakore-Rea at the "Battle of the Codes" touch football competition for the Costigan Foundation on Saturday.Credit: Jay Cronan
The Battle of the Codes, held in support of the Tara Costigan Foundation, featured 15 men's and mixed teams from all kinds of football going head to head throughout the day in a show of community unity and support against family violence.
It also served as a commemoration of Tara Costigan's death in February 2015.
Clubs from all four footy codes played against each other to find Canberra's best club?. Credit: Jay Cronan
The foundation's Nadia Pessarossi said about 400 people had shown up in support of the event.
"There's just a great feeling here of community spirit, and it shows what the foundation is all about; that together we are strong," she said.
"There are a lot of events for children and some of the players even brought their kids along."
Trent Garrett from Vikings touch football helped organise the event and said the clubs from different codes had been keen to get on board.
"There's a lot of friendly rivalries here, the Vikings could have been playing the Whites in the grand final so it's been a lot of fun," he said.
"There's a couple of AFL clubs going up against one another as well so it's a really good day, there's a great atmosphere."
Children's activities, face painting, a barbecue and music on the grounds turned the event into a family fun day.
Tara Costigan Foundation founder and chief executive Michael Costigan said the day was a show of community unity.
"By combining forces with our local sporting heroes, we want to show the strength of what we can achieve as a community," he said.
"We can all help to change our nation's culture and attitude towards domestic violence by saying 'no' together."
Ms Pessarossi said she hoped the event would become an annual fixture on Canberra's sporting and charity calendar.
"Next year we'll be back bigger and better."