Dubbo College, Orange High School and Denison College Bathurst High Campus mark 100 years of the Astley Cup this year, with the century of hotly contested competition being celebrated by an exhibition at the Western Plains Cultural Centre (WPCC).
The competition consists of tennis, boys’ and girls’ soccer, netball, basketball, athletics and rugby league, as well as the Mulvey Cup debating competition.
The Cup itself has direct ties to Dubbo, having been bought from a local jeweller and donated by Joseph Lawrence Astley after having the words “play the game” engraved on it.
“While the Astley Cup may have slipped through Dubbo’s fingers this year, there is no doubt that there will plenty of opportunities to get it back in years to come as demonstrated by the variety of results over the last 100 years,” Dubbo Regional Council Mayor Mathew Dickerson said.
“It’s great to see the Black and Red Army keeping the flag flying on and off the field not just for Dubbo College but also in memory of Dubbo High School.
“I’m sure many of the current students will enjoy the chance to see glimpses of the legacy they’re keeping alive at this exhibition,” Clr Dickerson said.
A range of items from local collections fill the case in the replica classroom from the 1950s at WPCC, just off the main museum space, with the precious artefacts helping tell the story of the long-running interschool competition.
Through the SPARC Cultural Plan the community told Council it was keen to see the Dubbo Regional Museum celebrate the experiences that are unique to this region. “The exhibition features newspaper clippings, photographs, uniforms, programs, mascot and other objects, as well as some priceless footage from the Astley Cup in the late sixties,” WPCC curator Kent Buchanan said.
“We extend our thanks to Jill McCann, Wayne Garnsey, Judy O’Connor and Dubbo College Senior Campus for all lending items from their collections for this exhibition, allowing us to capture a snippet of the early years of some of Dubbo’s heralded sporting heroes, as well as some not so heralded ones.”
The Astley Cup Centenary exhibition will be available for viewing until Sunday 30 July.
