By JARROD POTTER
ONE of Dandenong City’s rising star soccer players has taken the next step in his playing journey – earning a spot in the Victorian Skilleroos representative team.
Dionis Shabani, 14 from Doveton, will take to the fields around Coffs Harbour later this year as he represents Victoria in the Skilleroos tournament – an under-15 tournament which brings the best junior players in Australia together in competition.
Shabani was thrilled to make the squad and believes his side is stronger than last year – having watched the Skilleroos play in 2013.
“It’s a much stronger team than last year – I’ve seen them play and we’ve grown bigger this year and we’ve got a few new players so I reckon we can do pretty good,” Shabani said.
Making the switch from Doveton Soccer Club two years ago, Shabani has enjoyed a small taste of success with Dandenong City as his under-15 side finished second last season after topping the table through most of the season.
He’s also an initial representative of Dandenong City’s National Premier League Victoria (NPLV) junior set-up with Shabani set to play for the under-15 team.
“Played here last year, really liked it – the coaches and stuff are pretty good and help me out with everything,” Shabani said.
“In the under-15 competition we were coming first for the whole season but then something happened and we dropped to second.”
There’s soccer aplenty going on for Shabani at the moment, with the young striker also a part of the Rowville Sports Academy and part of their school tournament winning side that defeated Dandenong High School last season 2-0 in the grand final.
Shabani wanted to thank the club for giving him the opportunity to play and trial for Skilleroos and his coaches from 2013 Daniel and Pat.
Dandenong City wanted to announce its NPLV fees for U12-14 (born between 2000-03) will be $995 per player (by three payments). The club is still seeking players for those age groups. For training info go to www.dandenongcityfc.com.
