Students kick goals at soccer gala

THE world game is riding high in Australia following the Socceroos’ World Cup campaign, and Football Victoria have tapped into the spirit with a day of soccer-based fun and activities for Geelong’s specialist schools.

On Monday this week, students from the Armstrong Creek, Barwon Valley, Hamlyn Views and Nelson Park schools gathered at Corio’s Leisure Time Centre for the Geelong Region Specialist School Gala Day.

Starting with warmups and coaching clinics run by Football Victoria staff, students from the schools then participated in a friendly seven-a-side round-robin tournament on the indoor courts, with unlimited interchanges, no scores kept, and no wins and losses recorded.

Football Victoria schools program manager Brad Atholwood said about 70 children took part in the four-hour event, organised in association with Leisure Networks.

“It was awesome – we had plenty of smiles, and there was lots of fun being had.

“The teachers were really positive about it, all the students got as involved as they possibly could, and we just modified the games to make sure that everyone had a chance to score a few goals and get plenty of time for themselves, too.”

He said Australia was in an “incredibly fortunate” position at the moment in regards to soccer, being sandwiched between the FIFA World Cup (which runs until December 19) and the Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand in July 2023.

“I think the men’s World Cup was really good to give everyone a bit of a taste of what success for our national team looks like, so it’s definitely more talked about – you put on the TV and the radio, it’s more talked about – so I think, over time, it’ll definitely propel us into more programs and hopefully more school offerings.

“With the Women’s World Cup coming up next year, I’d say this is a really great time over this next six months where we can attract as many kids as possible.

“It’ll be one of the first times they can ever get to turn on their TV and see the game, not just participate in it. We’re obviously a really good participation sport, but having the heroes on TV certainly helps makes our job a little bit

easier to get people involved in the game.”