Raring to go

THE next two pieces of the Masala Football Club framework have been formed, with the announcement of their inaugural senior coach and their first home ground.
With their new home ground, Barry Powell Reserve in Noble Park, sorted out,  Masala made its second big announcement by chosing Matt Peddlesden, a former Old Camberwell and Camberwell Grammar player and coach, to lead the Tigers as their coach.
Peddlesden, 20, could be one of the youngest senior coaches in the VAFA and potentially the whole of Victoria, but his passion and love for the sport made him the standout candidate for the position.
“A love of football – really I love playing football and being around football,” Peddlesden said.
“I had a friend that was involved with the International Cup and he said he would be a good opportunity to learn a lot more about football and also to teach it.
“Coached for a couple of years at Camberwell Grammar – but just the junior teams there as I’m just at the start of my coaching.”
Coaching any senior team is a challenge at the best of times, but the difficulty curve has been raised at Masala with a lot of the players new converts to football.
Peddlesden admitted it will be a hard task to mesh those with football acumen and those fresh to the game into one team, but finds that part of the allure of Masala.
“It’s one of the most confusing things you can do – people you know can play football, people who’ve never played it before, people who absolutely love it but have never played it as well,” Peddlesden said.
“But honestly from what I’ve already seen – people getting to know each other and loving their football and learning off each other is key.
“The two tall people playing ruck – one knows how to play football and the other doesn’t, so he’s taken the other guy under his wing and is teaching him which is great.
“I love football so much, so I love seeing everyone else enjoy it as well.”
The team continues to progress rapidly, with players only a few sessions into their football training starting to learn complex tactics and skills, a massive boon to Peddlesden to see it all unfold in front of him.
“Seeing the improvement as well – seeing people commit to something and improve upon it is fantastic,” he said.
“Half these people couldn’t kick drop punts at the start of the first training session and at the second one they’re kicking them as well as I can, so they’re all going great.”
No-one is excluded from Masala – with any skill level or nationality welcome to wear the yellow sash for the Tigers.
“We’ve got Sudanese, Egyptians, Aboriginals, we’ve got everyone down at the club and it’s great to mesh a team together – we all love football and that’s why we’re doing it and it’s great that we’re all making mates out of it too,” Peddlesden said.
“It’s not something be intimidated about – it’s something fun and something worth doing and I’d love to see more people come down.”
Masala president Ash Nugent said Peddlesden’s enthusiasm and knowledge for the game made him an easy choice for the committee.
“We were looking for a volunteer coach that could deal with the diverse group that we’ve got and Matt put his hand up and he’s been a perfect fit ever since,” Nugent said.
Masala FC played its first practice match on Sunday at Gosch’s Paddock against Team Africa, with the final result going the way of the Africans 16.22 (118) to Masala’s 4.9 (33).