By Callum Ludwig
Healesville Soccer Club has secured an exciting new partnership with A-League side Melbourne City to encourage more young players to become soccer stars.
Junior players who register before 31 January will receive free entry to six Melbourne City home games, with opportunities also available to be a mascot and play on the field at halftime.
Healesville SC President Suzanne Tyzack only 10-15 clubs around Victoria get the opportunity to get involved in the City Club Platinum Program.
“Throughout the season two of the women’s players and the men’s players will come to a training session as well, and last year we had every member turn up bar three for that,” she said.
“All the kids got to ask questions and talk about football, and our coaches will get a coach-to-coach session this year as well. It’s a way of providing soccer pathways and we’ve got some really skilled and enthusiastic kids playing out here.”
Last year, star right winger and Socceroo Andrew Nabbout and talented young attacking midfielder Luke Oresti came to Healesville SC to check out the skills on show and dish out signatures aplenty.
Other offers through the partnership also include all juniors being invited to Casey Fields to participate in a Festival Day during 2023 and City Football Schools tasters including a chance for up to 20 Junior Players between the ages of 4 and 14 to participate in a complimentary MCFC “City Football Schools” class.
Ms Tyzack said it can often be hard for Healesville players to see their favourite players in action due to the over an hour drive to AAMI Park, especially for night games.
“It’s something we want to offer to them, to give them access to the professionals and inspire them to think about playing soccer in the future and improving their skills, driving them to choose it as a sport they play for a lifetime,” she said.
“It adds to the community feel within the club and is something we can offer that perhaps others can’t. A lot of kids come and go in all sporting clubs, but we want to encourage them to stay and some of these juniors will be with our club for the next six or seven years and maybe even play seniors.”
With the return of their women’s and senior men’s team last year, the Healesville Soccer Club is aiming to have a record number of teams in 2023. They are aiming to bring in a second men’s side, expand their women’s team and encourage any juniors to sign up, with anyone welcome to come down and join a pre-season training.
Ms Tyzack said they are hoping for a healthy increase in numbers.
“We were fortunate to see an increase in numbers coming out of Covid, and I know anecdotally a lot of other codes and even soccer clubs around Melbourne saw a drop off. I think the future is very bright for the soccer club, and we just want to get more engagement from players and parents to volunteer for the club,” she said.
“The Healesville Futsal Club has also been very valuable, running tournaments at Healesville High School and a Little Strikers session on Saturday mornings for four to six-year-olds, I think we are seeing a big community drive towards soccer in general, because of what both clubs are doing.”
The first junior training session begins on Thursday 2 February, while the senior players started on Wednesday 18 January at Queens Park before they head back to the Don Road Sporting Complex in February.
