CLOSE to 300 players, coaches, sponsors, family members and VIP guests gathered at the Geelong Rangers’ clubrooms at Myers Reserve on Sunday evening for a special Geelong Region representative squads’ shirt presentation ahead of next weekend’s Victorian Country Championships.

PHOTO: Ex-Socceroo captain Steve Horvat (left) and Victorian State Sports Minister John Eren pictured with Geelong U16 Girls’ captain Ilah Watson. GOFC’s Pete Bradley is pictured to the far left (Photo: Evra Photography by Leonie)

The evening was made all the more special by the presence of Victorian State Government Sports Minister John Eren, who literally lives just around the corner from Myers Reserve, as well as an inspirational pep talk by ex-Socceroo captain and local footballing legend Steve Horvat.

Organised meticulously by GOFC’s Pete Bradley and Mike Chapman, who were appointed by the Geelong Region Football Committee (GRFC) to select and manage the various Junior rep squads, the evening was kicked off by GRFC Chairperson Jo Plummer.

Minister Eren thanked all the club volunteers in the room, saying if it wasn’t for the clubs that operate on a volunteer basis there would be no sport in Australia.

“What I’m also very pleased about is that for the first time, out of 140 players going to the Country Championships, about 40% are female and that’s fantastic,” he said.

“Here is a special message to all you clubs. If you want to access government funds to improve your facilities, make sure your applications include the ability to improve your club to make it more female friendly,” he added, explaining how the State Government had allocated $14 million to a fund to make sporting clubs more female friendly.

Addressing the gathering, current Victoria Patriots A-League bid leader Steve Horvat had a special message for all the young players.

“Remember this, you never know who could be watching you at training or playing in the rep team,” he said recounting a story from his own representative days when he was identified as a talented prospect.

Unbeknown to Horvat, the then head coach of the Australian Institute of Sport, Ron Smith, noticed a young Horvat after one of the training sessions and had enquired about him and sought to chat to his parents.

“He spoke to my parents and offered me a scholarship to the AIS. My parents virtually accepted on the spot and 12 months later I would be playing for Australia at an international tournament in Canada. You just never know who’s watching,” recalled Horvat.

During the actual presentation part of the evening, the sponsors of each age group’s squad were firstly introduced to the audience, followed by the team’s coaches and then each squad member was presented with their new playing kits.

The various age groups (and their sponsors) were as follows:

BOYS:

U11N - Master Poultry Group

U11S - Cafe Moby, Torquay

U12 - Bank of Melbourne

U13 - Your Building Advisor

U14 - Loanlink

U15 - Base Fire Protection

U16 - Piranha Snack Foods

GIRLS:

U12 - Your Building Advisor

U16 - Evra Photography

The evening concluded with Football Federation Victoria’s local Zone Development Officer, Foddy Kyprian, explaining how none of these rep squads would be possible without the determination, commitment and sheer hard work of both Bradley and Chapman, but in particular Bradley who first approached the GRFC three years ago and expressed his willingness to address the fact there was a lack of representative football for local, community based players in Geelong.

From an idea arose a solution and as a result, this year there will be close to 140 young players representing the region at next weekend’s Victorian Country Championships in Morwell and Traralgon.